Anime Addventure : My Very Own Personal Nabiki
by tutcat
Summary: early break off from Masters Way (all stories up for adoption)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any other crossover characters. They are owned by there respective owners. Not out to make any money or fame on others work.

This is a collection of fic's I was able to save of a web archive that has shut down recently. Some had been edited so my text reader would work better. So original authors and extra stuff was removed from the fic .

On the ones that have not been edited I will be editing them so the original authors will get credited for their parts. Also if you have the parts that I'm missing let me know in a PM will edit them in. Same with other fic's if you have them will post for others to be able to read.

This is an early break off of Master's Way. Added part of MW to allow you to see where the break is at.

 **My Very Own Personal Nabiki**

 **by Kender**

For Ranma, the oddest thing about waking up wasn't in doing it, but that he was so comfortable in doing so. Usually he woke up, he was either on a futon or recovering from the latest bashing that he'd gotten. But this time he felt warm and soft, with a quiet that he didn't recognize.

It took him a few moments to remember where he was, and when he opened his eyes, what he saw confirmed it.

Rather than being in the room that he shared with his father, or the many places that he might be when bashed into unconsciousness, he was laying in Nabiki's bed of all places. Looking out the window, he could see the first signs of sunset coming, and realized how late it had gotten.

That told him that he had to move quickly because the others would be returning home, and finding him in this room would not be good if the others found out. If they did he'd be in big trouble, and then he'd wind up with a lot of explaining to do in the few moments it would take to wind up the first punch. Then he'd be in for it, and the level of pain would be something that he'd never experienced before.

So he pulled himself out from under the covers and stretched before spotting the figure on the floor. He smiled slightly as he saw the eminently happy look the normally controlled Nabiki had on her face. She lay there on her side, completely nude, and seemed completely comfortable there. One hand was tucked under a breast while the other arm was loosely stretched before her. Both her legs were stretched out and slightly spread in her repose.

As he looked over the sleek body laying there before him, he tried to comprehend what the both of them had done. He had taken his hands and caressed the full breasts, kneading and playing with them. His fingers had gripped into the firm flesh of her buttocks, and he had touched her in places he had trouble touching his girl side.

And she had no problems with it. She had been so... so... compliant, that she had done everything that he wanted. Heck, she had even instigated things as what she was doing, and had seemed perfectly prepared to keep on going. He couldn't understand why she did, but he could feel the urge to play with her some more, to pet her, to stroke her, to pull down his pants and wake her with...

'Down boy!' he thought harshly to himself. All he'd wanted was to see if what he'd been trying for would work, and to make her fantasy come true. It was one thing to do that, and quite another to expect her to continue to be willing to... service him, especially with real life waiting for the both of them. He didn't know what she would do with this, but he did know that he couldn't assume that she'd want to continue.

So, while the mixture of caring and control was alluring, he knew that he had to make it so that things wouldn't get them into trouble. A bit of hot water, and a cleaning up would do that, and he planned to see what he could do from there.

Kneeling before the supple form, he carefully pulled off the collar and leash, before stepping over the sleeping girl and leaving the room.

When Nabiki awakened, she shifted in her bed as reason returned to her. Her mind was slow to turn to its normal processes, and all she wanted to do was to curl up and sleep some more. But then she realized that she wouldn't get to play with her owner...

 _That_ thought sent her eyes shooting open, and she looked around in a small bit of panic. It wasn't the thought of being owned that was the problem, but the idea that she was in a bed when she felt that he should be there. As he wasn't, that meant that something had happened, but she couldn't figure out what that could be. One moment she had merely been laying happily on the floor as Ranma slept in the bed, and the next she found herself laying in the bed, alone in the room.

Images of herself acting as Ranma's pet filled her mind, and she was certain that they were real, but it was like it didn't happen. A quick check showed that her ears were back where they were normally, there was no collar on her neck, and that her the smooth surface of her buttocks went to her back with out interruption. She was human, alone, and it seemed like she had simply been having a very intense erotic dream.

But then she realised the small things that told her that it hadn't been merely something that came to her in her sleep. Like the fact that she could feel where the collar had pressed into her neck. Or how there was a pleasant ache between her legs that she had never felt before. Then there was the odd taste in her mouth. And last was the most important one of all.

She had never slept nude before. There had been close situations, but she'd always slumbered in some sort of nightwear.

Which meant that she hadn't dreamed it all, and Ranma _had_ taken her for his pet for several wonderful hours. He had let her live a fantasy that she had been having for several years, and centered on him when he came. And he had done so not with the cruelty that another boy might have had in his situation. She had been at his mercy, and he had made it almost... magical, if she wanted to be a bit poetic.

Only it seemed that he had made it so that it seemed that nothing had happened. She could understand if he had wanted to keep the others from knowing, but if he had wanted her to think that it was just a dream, then he was sorely mistaken. Her only problem was that she had to figure out what to do about all this. There was a lot of proverbial rope that he had given her, but she wasn't sure about who she wanted to tie up with it.

However, she wasn't one for rash decisions, and knew that she need to assimilate the new knowledge and feelings that were running through her mind, heart and other places.

Taking a deep breath, she tossed off the covers, stood up and started to go to clean up

 **by Rat Bastard**

Nabiki sighed happily, as she slipped into the warm water of the furo. She let the warmth seep into her and soothe all her muscles, while her left hand softly trailed over her submerged vagina and gently probed the folds for soreness but found none. There was a certain ache there, but it was a good one, like the glow after a good workout. Her private parts had been used - and used well! - but not abused.

Some years ago, when she had discovered her own sexuality and started masturbating in earnest, she had decided that her first time would not be marred by blood or pain and had proceeded to break her hymen with the handle of a hair brush. Now Nabiki smiled at the brashness of her younger self, who had believed she knew everything there was to know about sex, yet had been so innocent, compared to her today. Now she was sure that she wouldn't have minded a little pain to mark the passing of her virginity - and Ranma _had_ taken her virginity, if only in the sense of being the first boy to enter her body - but it was probably for the best. Ranma would probably have been put off his stroke by the sight of blood.

And what a first time it had been! What would her younger self, who had imagined her first time as nothing wilder than a passionate embrace in the missionary position, have thought of the events of today? In the intervening years Nabiki had learned quite a lot about sex and the various ways of spicing it up beyond simple, straightforward copulation. She had learned of fetishes and forms of sexual play, and had found herself quite aroused by some of them, but she would never have believed that her very first time would prove to be a culmination of one of her most outlandish fantasies.

Dominance/submission fantasies were not uncommon, but surely very few people got to play these games right from the start - and they had gone so far beyond even D/s play today! She had been _physically transformed_ by actual magic into a mixture of human and animal (though mostly human) and had been taken as a pet - not merely as a slave, like a human, but as a _pet_ , like an animal! She wished she still had her tail; she could almost feel it phantom-wagging behind her at the thought of Ranma as her master and owner.

Who in her school - who in the _world_ \- could claim to have had a first time as wild, as exotic, as magical as hers? Transformed, claimed and leashed, treated as a pet (Well, not quite like a regular pet. Nasty, spiteful rumors about certain girls' preferences notwithstanding, Nabiki doubted that many pets played _that way_ with their masters), and finally taken from behind like a bitch should be.

Her hand had stopped its soft exploration and had started rubbing purposefully, as her thoughts had wandered over the events of the day. Now she dipped her fingers inside herself and quickly brought herself to a small orgasm, like an aftershock to the earthquakes she experienced earlier.

"Ahh... That's better," Nabiki sighed contentedly in the afterglow. She wondered why her own voice seemed so strange to her.

With a start she realized that these were the first words she had spoken in several hours - the entire rest of the time she had been barking and whining like a dog. The last human word she had uttered was the explicit confirmation of wanting Ranma to mount her, and even that "Yeah" had contained a generous dose of canine whimper.

The curious thing was... Nabiki had never made a conscious decision to stop speaking and start barking. It had just happened, and she hadn't even realized it until now, because it seemed so natural. The same went for crawling on all fours. When Ranma had led her from her room on her leash, she had still walked upright like a human, but soon she had gotten on all fours and stayed there. She hadn't wasted a single thought on it then, but she certainly started to do so now.

There were other things that didn't add up, now that she came to think of it. How on earth could Ranma possibly have known about her "pet" fantasy? The chance that he had decided out of the blue to approach her for a day of sexual play that just _happened_ to perfectly match one of her darkest most secret fantasies was so ridiculously small that she refused to even consider it. He had been pretty confident about it, as if he knew exactly what he was doing, and the only question was whether she would admit what she wanted or not.

But as soon as the Jusenkyo water had hit her in the face, she had entered a kind of dream state, where she had failed to find anything unusual about it - and now in retrospect she was sure that it was more than merely being dazed by the sudden, unexpected fulfillment of her fantasy. The more she thought about it, the more certain she grew that more than just her body had been altered by that mixture of instant curses.

Was that possible? The other cursed persons she knew or had heard about seemed entirely themselves in either form. On the other hand, from what she had heard, the curse victims were all immediately able to use their new bodies as if they were their own, even right after the very first change. Surely such a radical change in the physical configuration and capabilities of their bodies should have thrown them completely off, requiring them to relearn how to walk and move from scratch. Even Ranma, whose body stayed human, should have been clumsy and uncoordinated at first, but both he and Genma confirmed that he had been as precise and sure-footed as before.

And wasn't there a spring of drowned virtuous man or something like that? Pantyhose Taro had brought the wrong water, when he tried to use it on Happosai, but as far as she could tell from the Jusenkyo Guide's words, the spring did really exist.

So the springs _could_ affect the mind, either explicitly or merely by adapting it to the body. Her sudden docility and unquestioning acceptance of the situation, her unthinking change of behavior from human to dog-like, these had surely been products of the instant curses.

Nabiki suddenly sat up erect in the furo, sending waves of water splashing against the rim and over it onto the tiled floor. A sudden thought had chilled her to the bone. If her acceptance of Ranma's actions, if her submissive begging for his touch had been brought on only by the mind-altering effects of the curse... then wasn't that the magical equivalent of drugging a girl into compliance and taking advantage of her? Was her treasured first time nothing more than a date rape?

"No!" said Nabiki resolutely to herself, the echoing walls of the bathroom throwing that declaration right back at her, as she shook her head. She eased back into the warm water, letting it soothe her once again.

Her experience today had been nothing of the kind! She may have been in an altered state of mind at the time, but she certainly wasn't now, and she knew without a shadow of doubt that she would do it all again in a heartbeat, with or without the Jusenkyo curses. Anytime Ranma wanted to collar and leash her she would gladly let him and get on all fours for him to mount. Though she had to admit that having a real tail to wag made the whole thing so much kinkier and more exciting.

She sighed with relief and settled back to masturbate slowly to another orgasm, fantasizing about all the other ways a pet and her master could have fun. And she didn't always have to be a dog girl either... Images of bunny ears, fox tails, cat whiskers, cow udders, horse's hooves and many more exciting possibilities danced through her mind, as she fingered her softness and tweaked her stiff nipples.

At the dinner table, with the rest of the family returned and talking happily about their day, it almost seemed as if the entire day had been nothing but a dream, but the continuing tenderness of her privates told Nabiki that this was not so.

She rose from pleasant daydreams, when Akane suddenly addressed her.

"What about your day, sis? You haven't been torturing Ranma again, have you?"

" _Moi_?" Nabiki asked. "Not at all. I've been a _good girl_ all day," she added with a sly smile.

The fact that Ranma chose this moment to choke on his tea, almost inhaling the entire cup, didn't do much to allay Akane's suspicion of her older sister. She whacked his back a few times until he could breathe again and shot another glance at Nabiki, who feigned innocence badly, but did not inquire further.

While Nabiki and Ranma acted towards each other normally over the next few days, Nabiki was sure that she felt a certain, subtle bond between them. Sure, Ranma and his fiancées still orbited around each other in their unpredictable, crazy dance, but now Nabiki realized that she was shifting position as well, moving away from her station as a remote, outside observer.

She wasn't sure whether she really wanted Ranma the way the others did, but she certainly couldn't deny there was an attraction. Of course the physical attraction had been there all the time - Ranma's excellent physique had dominated Nabiki's sexual fantasies almost since the day he arrived - and she had certainly liked him well enough as a future brother in law and a source of amusement, but now she felt there may be something more between them. Whether it was the kind of bond that led to love or even marriage remained to be seen - but in the meantime she would certainly enjoy anything that fate sent her way.

And of course Nabiki wouldn't be Nabiki, if she didn't try to peek at fate's cards.

She had searched the entire house for anything that might shed some light on how Ranma - whom she had considered mostly an innocent in sexual matters - had come to know her innermost fantasies and managed to make them into reality so confidently. It wasn't until three days later that she found something, at least - though not all she was looking for.

In the "hall" beside the dojo (actually part of the main dojo room, partitioned off by movable sliding screens) that was used as storage space, she found a new box amidst the others that contained miscellaneous equipment and general stuff. Inside this new box she found a great amount of small packets - instant Jusenkyo springs in dozens of variations, she realized - a collar, a leash and a few sealed bottles.

The bottles each bore either the kanji for "girl" or "dog". These had to be full of leftover spring water. Considering that a single packet could turn a bathtub or a koi pond full of water into a single-use Jusenkyo spring, it stood to reason that Ranma still had some left over, after using a mere bucket full on her.

Nabiki's smile went wider and wider in excited anticipation of all the things she could do with this stash.

Ranma sat in his room and thought about his next steps with that book he found. After his day with Nabiki as his pet, he had wanted to use the babble point on some other girls he knew, and perhaps make one of their fantasies come true as well, but the opportunity had not presented itself.

He had just decided to stow the thinking and go down into the yard for a workout, when there was a knock on his door. Ranma blinked confusedly. He had thought he was completely on his own, everybody else having gone off on one errand or another for the day. He shifted the door open and blinked once again, now even more confused.

"Nabiki...?" he said.

 **by Kender**

All Ranma could do was to stare at the girl who was walking into the room that he was sharing with his father, and be _damned_ glad that the panda wasn't there at the moment.

That was because something that he had remembered both in total clarity and the haze of fond memories was walking towards him right then.

To be honest, he had both dreaded and been anxious for this moment, though he didn't know what form it would take. For all he knew, she could be mad at him, and work off her anger in new ways. Or worse, she could tease and blackmail him with it, and he'd be able to do nothing about it. Which would be terrible since it had been something that he had actually enjoyed, and liked sharing with her.

But he hadn't allowed himself to hope that this would happen, yet, it really was.

Coming towards him was clearly the middle Tendo daughter, but she wasn't the same girl he'd been half-avoiding, half-watching the past few days. Rather, she was back to being what she had been on that afternoon that that they had spent alone together. And it didn't look like she was mad at all.

The first thing that he noticed was that she was completely and utterly naked, without even a stitch of clothing on. Her firm breasts swung with every step, her long legs moved with a confident stride and the slight tint of red in her cheeks was not the same as if she were embarrassed. Back on top of her head were her ears, and a tail wagged behind her as the only betrayal of the happiness she was obviously feeling.

As she knelt beside him, he could only mumble, "But I changed you back..."

"Here..," she told him, and made certain that his attention was back on the collar.

"But I hid those... You did this?!"

She nodded silently.

"Why? I mean, I only wanted ta make ya happy by makin' your fantasy come true. I wasn't about ta make ya be like this again..."

A whimper worked up from the back of her throat and a sad look hit her eyes.

"Whoa... I didn't mean ta make ya unhappy. I just didn't wanna assume more than I had. Now, I'm just wonderin' why ya did this?"

Leaning over, she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and he blinked several times.

"What? Ya wanna be my pet again?"

Nodding, Nabiki barked once.

"Hold on... ya wanna have another couple of hours?"

Her head shook as soon as he finished speaking.

"What for a day?"

Another head shake had him scratching his head.

"What then? Ya... just wanna be my pet?"

A bright smile lit up her features and her nod was quick in coming.

"Hold on. Ya wanna be my pet. End of story."

She nodded.

"Like this? What 'bout when ya gotta go ta school or somethin'? Or just at regular times? Ya'd be a girl then."

Biting her lip, she decided to speak her answer this time. "Anytime Ranma-kun... Master. I want to be your pet anytime, anywhere. Whenever you want to collar and leash me, I'll be yours. As a human girl, like this, or as a mixture of another animal and girl, I want to be your pet."

"Ya really, _really_ want that?"

Her answering look was one of entreaty and hope.

Taking the collar and leash from her hands, he looked them over before deciding that he would:

by Kwakerjak

Ranma took a deep breath—he didn't want to blunder into this, and he certainly didn't want to stick his foot in his mouth now. He closed his eyes in an attempt to aid his concentration (and to avoid the "sad puppy face" that Nabiki was giving him—a maneuver that is, not surprisingly, even more effective when used by someone who is partially canine). For her part, Nabiki was growing a little anxious as she waited to see if her prospective owner would permanently "adopt" her as his pet. As his silence lingered, she bit her lip and increased the intensity of her puppy face, hoping that he would sense her earnestness through his eyelids.

At long last, Ranma opened his eyes. He turned to the dog-girl, looked directly into her eyes, and gave his answer. "Alright, I'll do it. You can be my pet."

As expected, Nabiki was overjoyed by this pronouncement. She barked happily and jumped to her Master, pushing him back onto his futon. She started licking his face in appreciation as her golden retriever tail rapidly swished back and forth.

"Whoa, hold on," said Ranma. "I ain't just gonna jump inta this unless I know exactly what I'm gettin' into." Nabiki stopped, the excitement in her face being replaced by confusion and a little bit of worry. Seeing this, Ranma sat up and did his best to reassure her. "Relax, I'm not tryin' ta back out or nuthin'. I just wanna make sure I know how far yer gonna let me go on this."

Nabiki nodded; realizing that she would probably have to use human speech for the rest of the conversation, she reluctantly addressed the teenaged boy to whom she had given her being. "Master, I've told you that my fantasy is for you to treat me like a pet; in my mind that means you can (and hopefully will) do anything with me that wouldn't be considered animal cruelty."

Ranma shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I sorta figured that that was what you wanted, but need to know exactly what yer lettin' me do. I mean, yer not really actin' like the Nabiki I know, so I sorta want proof that you really mean it, you know? I need somethin' that the Ice Queen won't be able ta dispute."

Nabiki nodded again. This fantasy of hers was at odds with the emotionally distant "Ice Queen" persona that she'd carefully nurtured over the years. "How about a contract? That way, I can give you legal consent in advance for all of our sexual activities. We can also use it to lay out all of the ground rules for our relationship."

"That sounds good. I s'pose we can hammer out the details then." A pause. "Speakin' of hammers, we need to deal with Akane somehow. She already clobbers me enough when she thinks I'm bein' a pervert; I ain't lookin' forward to seein' how she reacts when she learns that I really am."

The dog-girl looked pensive for a while, then timidly offered a solution. "Well… would could ask our parents to switch the engagement to me…"

"That could work, but it'd just open up a whole new set of problems."

"Well, Master, we can cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah…" The pigtailed martial artist trailed off. After a minute, he reached a decision. "Okay, first things first…"

Nabiki was a bit disappointed with her Master's decision to start with the legalistic end of things. After all, she had the leash, collar, ears, and tail; put them all together and that should spell "incredibly erotic experience," right? But Ranma did have a point—after all, the mind-altering nature of the Jusenkyo cocktail had even caused _her_ to briefly doubt whether or not she had really given consent. Something solid, like a contract, would erase any and all doubts she or he could have. But that mean she needed her unaltered mind. And _that_ meant…

"Master, I need some hot water."

"What for?"

"Well, the mix of Instant Jusenkyo I'm currently using has some mind-altering effects… namely, it makes me more submissive. Not that I wasn't before, but you know what I mean. The point is, for this contract to be considered a document of legal consent, I need to make sure that my mind is unaffected."

"What the heck does that mean?"

Nabiki sighed. "It means, 'Master, I need some hot water.'"

"Oh. Okay."

Ranma went downstairs and put a kettle on the stove. _Damn, I don't believe it. We're really gonna go through with this._ When he started using the techniques in that book, he never suspected it would result in him actually _living_ out a sexual fantasy on a permanent basis. Ranma's boxers began to feel constrictive. _Easy, little guy. There'll be plenty of time for that later._

When the kettle was ready, he took it upstairs, where he found the dog-girl— _his_ dog-girl—sitting at her computer, which was opened to a word processing program. She accepted the kettle with a "Thank you, Master," and a few seconds later, a damp and completely human Nabiki sat ready to type out the document that would make her fantasy reality. (She didn't bother putting clothes on; after all, her body belonged to Ranma, and there was no reason he shouldn't be able to view his property.)

Nabiki fingers started flying as she spoke in what was as close to her "Ice Queen" tone as possible, given the situation. "Alright, I'm consenting to any and all sexual activities you may initiate with me for the duration of are relationship, regardless of my initial reaction."

"Huh?"

"You can fuck me whenever you want, and I have no say in the matter—nothing you do to me can be considered rape."

Ranma was stunned. hadn't expected Nabiki to go _this_ far. "Isn't that a little… broad? I mean, don'tcha even want a… what do you call those things…"

"A safeword?" Nabiki guessed.

"Yeah, that's it… Don'tcha want a safeword in case I go too far?"

"Well…

"…not really. I trust your judgment, Ranma. You're dominant, yes, but somehow you don't strike me as the type who'd get off on sadomasochism."

"Uh, that's the kind where there's pain involved, right?" He vaguely remembered something like that word from his book, but he had skimmed over that part rather quickly. To him, the whole notion of deliberately causing pain during sex seemed to go against his honor codes, which required that he protect people _from_ harm. Outside of the context of a fight, he saw no reason for him to hurt anyone for _any_ reason other than the protection of others.

"Correct, Master. Since you'll be treating me like a pet, I doubt there will be any punishment more severe than a swat with a newspaper, though I'm more than willing to accept a spanking when you feel I need a punishment that causes more physical pain." What made this statement unusual was that it was spoken in Nabiki's "Ice Queen" persona, and as such it had a businesslike tone, without any of the "come hither" innuendo that one might expect from a statement like that. "Besides, if I know you (and I've made it my business to know you), you'll probably prefer to use some form of denial or humiliation as a punishment."

"Uhh… yeah."

"Besides, this contract becomes null and void if either of us decides to terminate the relationship, so I'm not too worried about you abusing my trust."

"Okay." All of the legalese was starting to make Ranma's head spin.

Nabiki saw this, and let the Ice Queen melt a bit, and gave her owner a smile. "Don't worry, Master. I'm not going to take advantage of you… remember, I _want_ you to treat me this way." At that, Ranma relaxed considerably. Nabiki hit "save," printed out a copy, and then the two them signed it. "There we go. As of right now, you can do whatever you want with me, and I can't stop you." Even as she said it, Nabiki felt her crotch getting warmer. But before the _real_ fun could begin, there was more business to take care of, though this would be decidedly more interesting. "Master, have you given any thought to what the rules will be in our relationship?"

Ranma nervously scratched the back of his head. "Um, sorta. But I'm not sure I want to set them in stone yet."

Nabiki allowed herself a giggle. "Hehe… but you're my Master—you can always change the rules if you want to."

"Okay." Ranma tried to decide where to begin. He looked over his new pet and his eyes stopped on the collar which was still around Nabiki's neck. "Alright, first of all, that collar is gonna be the way you know how yer supposed ta act. When you got it on, you act like my pet. That means you call me 'Master' and obey my orders n' stuff. When it's off, you act normal so no-one suspects nuthin', you call me Ranma, and you can decide for yourself whether or not you should follow an order—unless I order you ta put the collar on. That one ya always gotta follow."

"Alright."

"Second, unless there's some sort of emergency, when yer part animal, I don't want ya talkin' or actin' like a human—act more like whatever animal ya happen ta be. That means stayin' on all fours most of the time, movin' around like that animal as much as possible, making animal noises, you know, the kinda stuff you did a few days ago. You can talk when yer all human, though. I'll decide whether or not to make ya speak only when yer spoken to later. For now, you can talk whenever you want. You follow me?"

"Yes, Master."

"Okay, rule three—this isn't really about you bein' my pet, but I don't want you touchin' yourself, okay? I'm the only one who gets to do that."

"Of course." Nabiki expected that there would be some rule forbidding masturbation on her part—she couldn't really imagine a dominant/submissive relationship without one.

"Good. Rule four: I'm gonna assume that yer housebroken. That means ya go to the bathroom in the bathroom if yer human, or outside if yer an animal. I ain't really inta that shit"—Ranma didn't notice his unintentional pun, but Nabiki did—"and besides, I'm pretty sure Kasumi would notice the smell. Ya still need my permission ta go, though, so you gotta figure out a way to let me know when you ain't human."

"Housebroken. Got it."

"Next…" Ranma started to blush, as though he was embarrassed by what he was about to say. "Uh… if ya disobey me, you'll get punished… and… I… uh… want you to know that all the rules I mentioned earlier, they apply when I'm in girlform too, okay? 'Cuz I really wanna do that." By the time he reached the end of that statement, he was nearly as red as the aforementioned girlform's hair.

Nabiki's mouth was hanging open. When she wrote up the contract, she knew that Ranma could, theoretically, dominate her in his female form, but she never expected that her Master might want to do so on a regular basis. To be honest, she _did_ wonder what sex with another woman would be like, but it was never really at the forefront of her mind. _I should have thought of this before I signed that thing._ Although she was sure Ranma would agree to a new contract if she indicated her discomfort, she felt she was getting what she deserved for not anticipating this. _It's not_ really _that big of a deal—I can always think of it as assisted masturbation, and who knows, I might even enjoy it._ Her mind settled, Nabiki regained her composure and turned to the martial artist. "Of course I'll obey you; you're my Master, after all—or should I say Mistress when you're female?"

"Uh… yeah. 'Mistress' sounds good."

"Is there anything else, Master?"

"Um… there is one other thing… and I'm not saying I'm going to actually do this, but I kinda wanna know… uhh… does that contract mean I can make you have sex with, you know, other people?"

Nabiki was really irritated with herself for not thinking of _this_. Apparently, the thought of long-term submission was distracting enough to make her miss details like this. She decided that her Master was giving her one last choice in her sex life, so she gave the matter careful thought. Finally, she had her answer. "As long as these 'other people' give their consent, I don't think it'll be a problem."

Ranma let out a long breath; he hadn't even realized he'd been holding it. With that answer, all the doubts in his mind cleared up: if she was willing to have sex with anyone when he ordered her too, she probably wouldn't mind some exhibitionism as well—especially since a lot of her fantasies took place in public. _He_ may not have been ready for it, but he was certain that _she_ was. He put on his trademark smirk and looked at his new pet/lover. "Well, that about does it for now. If I think of somethin' else I'll let you know." And with that, the formalities were over. Time for the fun to start…

 **by Kender**

Looking over the girl who'd just given herself to him, Ranma knew that he now had the sort of control that a lot of guys dreamed of. But unlike them, he would actually have the opportunity to use this girl as she seemed to want to much to be. At any time that he wanted, he could do so much to her, and not have to worry about getting bashed for it.

And as he thought of it, right now seemed to be the perfect time to get started with it. Sure, he'd made some rules for her, and they'd come up with an agreement, but talk was different than actual action, and he was certain that she'd like it as well. All it would take would be a dousing in cold water, and he'd have his dog-girl back, but he'd done that already, and he wanted to wait a bit on it. Turning her into a different sort of 'animal-girl' would have to happen later, because there was a possibility of mixing any added curses into the ones already there.

But he didn't want to go for an 'animal' Nabiki at the moment. Looking down, and seeing her curvy body now all available for him whenever he wanted, he could admit to himself that he found her very attractive at the moment. Sure, he'd always known that she had the sort of looks that could get guys all the time, but he'd never considered the possibility of having her really for himself. And now that he did, he wanted to not only see if she would want it all the time, but to find out just how good it would be with the 'real' thing.

So, he reached out, almost afraid that he was about to break the illusion of what had just been happening, and cupped her right breast in his palm, hefting the large orb with great care and appreciation.

This surprised Nabiki who leaned her head back to look him in the eye purely by habit. "Master?"

"What?" Ranma replied. "Ya did say any time."

"I... Right."

"So ya ain't gonna complain?"

'This is it. _This_ is what I wanted,' she thought to herself. Swallowing hard, she knew what she wanted to say, but her thoughts momentarily flew about her head as she felt his thumb rub over her already hard nipple.

"Nabiki?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Ya should answer me."

"I should?"

"Yeah. I mean, ya told me that I can do anythin' with ya, any time that I want. So that means that once I start, I ain't stoppin'," he reminded her.

"I know."

"So?"

"'So' what?"

Her Master ran his free hand down her belly and to the juncture of her thighs, slipping a finger in between her lower lips, drawing a gasp from her. "This ain't just talkin' right now."

The only response that she gave, which was the only one that she had to, was to spread her thighs nice and wide, so that he got a clear view of her sex, which was now his to play with.

Smirking, he leaned his mouth down and began to lick the nipple of the breast that she was holding. He could feel her hands go onto his shirt, but not to pull at him, but to hold on for support, as she let little mewls of pleasure slip from between her lips. She unconsciously pressed herself closer to him, and he grinned even as he began to suckle on the stiff nub.

Then he started to use the fingers that were inside of her as well. Her whole body would tense with a rush of pleasure as he began to stroke them in and out of her, tweaking her clit, and moving them in ways that made her whimper out what she was feeling. With his mouth on one breast, and one hand in her most intimate space, he put the other hand onto her free breast, and began to knead it. That started her wriggling with all the sensations that were running rampant through her body, and she started to buck a little in her seat. It was almost as if her body was trying to instinctually go for what he was giving her, and he was more than happy to oblige.

Knowing that she was getting all this from mere touches oddly pleased Ranma, not only because he could manipulate her body as much as she might be able to do with situations. Rather, he was glad that he was giving her so much pleasure, and he wanted to give her more. His leaning back might have disappointed her, but any urge to force more stopped at showing her eyes.

Happy that this was really happening, he gave her a quick kiss on the mouth before he pulled her out of her chair. But he didn't make her stand up, as he merely shifted things so that he was sitting down, and she was in his lap. The hand that had been playing with her breasts reached down and groped her supple buttocks, squeezing and fondling the firm cheeks as possessively as he could manage. Even though that was something that she was really enjoying, she didn't let that stop her from stroking and nuzzling his shirt. When he moved around to make her hand touch the fasteners to that garment, she immediately understood, and began to undo it. That allowed her to get down to his chest, and she did her damnedest to please him, which she did a rather good job of.

Yet, he wasn't about to simply leave her with nothing, and the hand that was playing with her sex went right on doing it. Several times she had to bite her lip, as the waves of pleasure were driving her up to her peak, but she didn't want to merely go along. It was something that Ranma noticed, and he decided that he didn't want to merely touch her tightness.

When he pulled his hand out of her, a sound of disappointment slipped out of her. That made her blush, and he smiled at her, reaching up to stroke her hair, but stopped when he realized that his fingers were all wet. Any apologetic look was stopped though, as she reached over and took his hand in both of her own. Then, in a move that surprised him, she put his fingers into her mouth, and began to lick and suck her own juices off of them. She looked a bit embarrassed at doing it, but she was clearly needing to do it.

Once she was done, he slipped her onto her bed, and laid her down flat. That left her all open for him, and he stood up just long enough to slip off his pants and boxers. His manhood stood at attention, clearly ready for what he planned next. Getting on top of her, he slid himself into position, and got ready to go for the full prize that she had given him, which made her open her legs as much as she could for him.

With her action, he slid himself into her, and groaned with pleasure of the feeling of having her tight around him. It felt so good that his hips unintentionally jerked forward, pushing him into her, and the both of them hissed with shared enjoyment. But as the Master, Ranma was in control, and he put that fact to good use. Slowly, he began to pump into his pet, and she could not get enough of it. Her entire body bounced upon that hard shaft, with her breasts moving with every stroke he did. She had to clutch at the bed to keep herself whole, as she felt like she was going to break into a million pieces.

But whatever discipline she had was soon gone, as he laid so that her firm chest was squashed against his. His arms went around her, brushing along her back to where he was cupping her bottom once more. He held her tight against him, almost as if he was claiming her body as his, though some alien part of her brain also noted that he was showing how much he needing her. However, that was great by her, and she needed to know that she was a precious possession to him, as being a pet did not mean that she would be merely a disposable sex toy.

And even that much was really not on any conscious level, as she was too far gone for that. This was a seal on an agreement, a pet being claimed by her Master, and a confirmation of their bond, and all the excitement that she got from that was added to the pure joy that was sex with her owner. It was so wonderful that it was simply overwhelming, and the dedication that she had to being the 'Ice Queen' became meaningless.

For when she got to her release, it was like her mind shattered, and thought was far beyond her. Instincts guided her, and she found that she felt like a pet at that moment, acting without thinking. That much was enough to make her even more happy, and she simply rode the wave of desire, perfectly happy to let her Master do as he wished with her unresisting body.

His grunt when he came into her yielding body started her realizing that there was an outside world again, and her dazed mind turned to looking at her owner. Ranma managed to look her in the eye after he recovered enough himself, but any delay was worth it. The happy look in his eye was enough to make it all worth it, even if he hadn't just given her an incredible first time as a human.

"So?" he murmured, stroking possessively over her thigh as he lay half on her.

Barely moving one hand, she stroked his cheek before kissing his lips. A smile curved her lips afterwards, and with a look of complete submission, acceptance, and happiness in her eye, she put his free hand back up to her breasts, letting him know that this was exactly what she wanted, even as she pressed her thighs around the hand there.

Ranma just smiled, and caressed her sweat slicked body with affection, while:

 **by Kwakerjak**

A few hours later, Ranma found himself sitting alone in his room. He was utterly exhausted; although his martial arts training and the techniques described in _Master's Way_ gave him a level of endurance that most men would kill for, he was still only human. Fortunately, his pet didn't seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to take pride in the fact that she had so thoroughly pleased her owner.

 _Owner. I actually own Nabiki._ This bit of introspection prompted the question that had been percolating in his subconscious ever since Nabiki offered to make their "relationship" more or less permanent: _How the hell did THIS happen?!_ A week ago, he didn't know any more about sex than the average hormonal teenaged guy. In fact, despite his curse, he probably knew a lot less. Then, he'd read that book, tried some of its methods on Nabiki (simply for revenge), and somehow that had snowballed into this "pet" thing, not just as a temporary role-playing thing, but as a lifestyle, something that would be in effect around the clock and could, theoretically, last for their entire lives. Quite frankly, it was staggering.

Ranma stared at the collar in his hand. Almost immediately after he'd taken it off of Nabiki, she began to act like the snarky, mischievous financier he had previously associated with the girl, in accordance with the rules he had set down for her. Sure, there differences between Nabiki's former public persona and her new one—she was, understandably, far less antagonistic. Some people might take notice of that, but naturally Nabiki had a plan for that. She was currently in her room trying to figure out the best way to get their parents to switch the engagement to her. That way, when it was discovered that they were lovers (and both of them knew that they would be discovered—this is Ranma's life we're talking about here), Nabiki was "reasonably sure" that the curiosity would end when it discovered they were affianced, and, hopefully, their "owner/pet" relationship could stay relatively secret.

 _Secret? Yeah, right. There's no way we could last more than a month before someone walks in on us._ But while Ranma knew that Nabiki was being excessively optimistic with her plan, he didn't try and stop his pet; after all, she was doing the best she could (which in Nabiki's case was quite a lot, actually), and who knows? Karma might actually let this slip by. But Ranma wasn't about to bet the farm on that. Still, doing nothing wasn't an option; since many of her non-sexual dreams and ambitions could be easily crushed by neighborhood gossip, he was determined to make sure her reputation was as spotless as possible. Granted, the contract they had signed didn't give him any real obligations at all, but as Nabiki's owner he felt that he was, to a degree, responsible for her well-being.

The contract. With that one sheet of paper, Nabiki had shown more trust in him than all of his fiancées combined. He could do anything to her. _Anything._ Sure, she could end the relationship at any time, but she'd probably only do so _after_ he had done something really bad, which would mean that she would have absolutely no options. _How can she trust me with this? After all the crap that's been done ta me…_

And there it was. The explanation. _She trusts me because I've been through it. Oyaji, the Amazons, everything. My whole life I've just been pushed around, never bein' allowed ta make my own decisions about anything. Nabiki's letting me treat her the way I've always been treated, 'cept now there's sex in the mix. But she knows I ain't gonna make her go through all the shit I had to, even though she'd let me._ Ranma exhaled deeply as his mind continued to analyze his situation at speeds previously unheard of out of battle.

 _I'd never do that to her, 'cuz I'm sick of it bein' done ta me—and that's probably why this stuff turns_ me _on so much. It ain't that I'm gonna do it, it's that I_ could _do it if I wanted to. I bet the fantasies_ I _have that I don't know about mostly have me "owning" some girl or another, and that's why I was able ta come with those rules so dang fast!_ True, some of his "rules" were simply adapted from what he had read in his book, but still, it was hard to imagine where stuff like the "housebroken" rule had come from (other than the fact that he really _did_ think that that sort of thing was disgusting to the point of severe nausea) unless he did have dominant fantasies, at least on a subconscious level.

 _Ugh… this is just too much… I'm gonna get a headache if I keep thinkin' about this. I just gotta relax._ And with that, Ranma headed to the dojo to take solace in the relative normalcy of his Art.

While Ranma was doing that…

 **by Kwakerjak**

Nabiki smiled to herself as she went over her plan once more. Like all good plans, it was fairly simple—there wasn't a lot that could go wrong here. She'd tell their fathers that she and Ranma had recently grown closer (though she no intention of telling them _how_ close) and then suggest that she become Ranma's fiancée, since Akane couldn't seem to get along with him. They would probably balk at first, but when Nabiki informed them that the two of them were willing to get married immediately (and her Master _had_ said that he was willing to do so if necessary), the patriarchs would, of course, ignore the illogic of her statements in their haste to get the schools joined. That was the easy part. The hard part would come when she tried to convince them to keep the marriage secret—that is, no announcements, no ceremony, nothing but official documents. After all, Ranma had several high-powered martial artists attempting to gain his hand, and Nabiki hadn't practiced her family's Art since the death of her mother. She needed to start improving—fast—or she'd never be able to fend off the other fiancées. Besides, marrying Ranma would make her the heir to the school—which meant she'd have to know it anyway.

She didn't have a problem with Nerima's populace knowing of the new arrangement, since her sources indicated that most people thought that Ranma's engagement to Akane would eventually be transferred to one of her sisters anyhow—though the betting pool currently favored Kasumi. Nabiki allowed herself another smile. _I love it when a plan comes together._ It would work. It had to work.

Satisfied with her efforts, Nabiki finally allowed herself the luxury of introspection. She absently stroked her now collarless neck and did her best to make sense of the past week. She was submissive for the same reason Ranma was dominant—a desire to escape the hassles of everyday life. Until recently, Ranma basically had no control over any aspect of his life—he just refused to assert himself to get what he wanted. Similarly, when she took over the family finances after her mother died, Nabiki suddenly had more control over her life (and thus more stress) than any 7-year-old deserves. Sure, with time, she learned to deal with the stress, but she still dreamed of a day when she wouldn't have to worry about decision making.

Well, that day had most certainly arrived and she couldn't back out now. When she wrote up the contract that gave him consent to do whatever he wanted with her body, she'd made sure that all of the loopholes were in his favor. Now the only way she could escape the contract would be to break off her relationship with Ranma—and she would not betray her owner, not after the kindness he'd shown her. She'd found his book—after all, snooping around was what she did best, and Ranma didn't own her at the time—and admittedly, she had been initially offended; the only way he could have known about her fantasies was to use the book's coercive information-gathering techniques. Unlike her younger sister, however, Nabiki had always made it a policy to think _before_ she acted, and when she did so, she realized that Ranma would never have acted so forwardly if he was only seeking self-gratification. It just wasn't in his nature. Therefore, his actions were as much for her as for him. Ever the pragmatist, Nabiki decided to forgive her Master for the questionable ethics behind some of those techniques.

Still, she decided not to mention this knowledge to her Master unless he asked. He deserved to feel a little guilty there, after all. If she got in trouble for it later, so be it (besides, if she never rebelled, she'd be denying him the chance to "correct" her actions).

Nabiki sighed as her thoughts turned back to her pigtailed owner. Specifically, she thought about what her pigtailed owner had been doing to her all afternoon—which was the other reason she had no problem with Ranma's possession of that book. She'd always thought the word "mind-numbing" was nothing more than a cliché, but the past few hours ( _hours!_ ) had proven that wrong. She couldn't really remember what happened, just that he had used her and pleased her and let her please him which pleased her even more and then did it again and she didn't know what it was only that it felt so damn good and then he started doing something else and suddenly he emptied himself inside of her and it was warm and—ACK!

While she was lost in her reverie, Nabiki had allowed her hand to get dangerously close to her pussy—which, as rule three stated, was for her owner's use only. True, she probably could have done it and then argued her way out of any discipline; she wasn't wearing her collar at the time, and his rules were so vague that she could say that she thought that the masturbation rule only applied when wearing the collar—but even though Ranma would have accepted it, he would still be disappointed, and she could not bear the thought of disappointing her Master. Oh well, it was a moot point; she hadn't actually touched herself (though if it hadn't been for her well-honed self-control, she would have been writhing on the floor rubbing and tweaking herself like it was going out of style).

Reluctantly, Nabiki banished the topic from her mind—one close call was one too many. In the end, she reached the same conclusion as her owner: that until their families returned, she would have to think of something else. And there was only one force in the universe powerful enough to take the place of _this_ train of thought: television.

Later…

Kasumi was suspicious. She wasn't sure _what_ she was suspicious of, but the way Ranma and Nabiki were behaving seemed… off. It wasn't that they were acting unusually—quite the opposite, in fact. Since she arrived home, it seemed to Kasumi that her sister and brother-in-law-to-be were going out of their way to behave in _exactly_ the same way they always had. If she didn't know any better, she'd think their actions were scripted—and unfortunately for those two, she _did_ know better.

Not to worry, though; she would give them the benefit of a doubt. There were probably plenty of acceptably mundane explanations for their behavior. However, Kasumi's usual reaction of utter obliviousness only applied to chaos—potential scandal was something else altogether. Besides, her maternal instincts were telling her that whatever was happening would drastically alter the dynamics of her family in ways that threatened to rip it apart by the seams. Then again, maybe she was just being paranoid.

The fact remained, however, that Kasumi was unusually suspicious, so she did what any maternal figure in her position would do—she started cleaning.

Someone once remarked that to the untrained eye, a thorough cleaning of a room is indistinguishable from a thorough search. A mere glance into the Saotomes' room told her to start there; Ranma's half, especially, was in an even greater state of disarray than it normally was. Kasumi went around the room, straightening out the mess. She saved the futon for last; if cheap melodramas had taught her anything, it was that the interesting stuff was always found there. But she wasn't assuming that Ranma and Nabiki had _slept_ together—my goodness no! She was just gathering the bedding so she could wash it, that's all…

And then she saw them.

Stains. On Ranma's bedding. And considering the experience Kasumi had with hormonal teenagers (she technically _was_ one, after all), she recognized them immediately. Furthermore, she could tell that there were two different kinds of stains on the martial artist's bedding, and she had plenty of experience getting both kinds out of fabric.

Kasumi then remembered the unusual way the two had acted the previous time they were alone together—in particular, she had noted Nabiki's strange insistence on doing her own laundry that day. She didn't think much of it then, but now…

It's one thing to construct sordid tales of passion in your head. Kasumi did that all the time—it's what allowed her to get through the stretches of boring that occurred between the flurries of activity at the Tendo compound.

It's quite another thing to find out that one of those sordid tales might be real.

Contrary to what one might think, Kasumi didn't faint from surprise, nor did she decide to ignore what was before her. When her mother died, she and Nabiki had had to take charge of the family, since their father became an emotional wreck, forcing both girls to grow up sooner than they should have. Now, her family faced yet another potential crisis, and again she had to be strong—but she couldn't rely on Nabiki's assistance this time, because the second daughter of Soun Tendo was smack in the middle of this one.

Ranma and Nabiki were lovers.

Kasumi needed to talk to her sister—preferably before anyone else came home. _I must have made a mistake somewhere. If Nabiki_ was _fooling around with Ranma she would never allow evidence to be left behind so obviously. There has to be another explanation—but what?_

Nabiki was in the family room watching television—one of those gender-bending anime that Ranma detested because they were "totally unrealistic." Kasumi approached her from behind, and then, in her most motherly voice, announced her presence: "Nabiki, can we talk?"

Nabiki's danger sense was even more refined than Kasumi's and right now it was going off louder than it ever had before in her life. "Uh, sure." She hit the power button on the remote control. "What's up?"

"Well, I was tidying up Ranma and Uncle Genma's room…"

 _Oh shit._ "Uh huh?"

"…and I was gathering up the bedding so I could wash it…"

 _Fuck._ "And…"

"…and I noticed these… stains."

 _Shit fuck godammit to hell!_ "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think that they're, umm…" Kasumi tried to find the least threatening word she knew. "…organic."

"Kasumi, are you trying to say they were semen stains?"

A blush from the homemaker. "Yes, but that's not all…"

 _Don't tell me she can tell the difference between male and female ejaculate._

"Some of the stains were… female."

 _Why me? Why why why? Okay, just calm down, Nabiki. This is definitely a job for the Ice Queen._ "So? Ranma's masturbating in both forms. Anyone with his curse is bound to get curious eventually." _That should work. Kasumi's got a plausible explanation, plus I've made the conversation explicit enough for her to be uncomfortable. Our secret is safe, Master._

Kasumi, unfortunately, wasn't quite buying it. "But Ranma rarely masturbates in his _male_ form—and I think most of those are wet dreams. Why would he suddenly get so adventurous?" Before Nabiki could reply, Kasumi decided that she needed to lay all her cards on the table. "Nabiki, listen. I know that I'm probably just being paranoid, but if something's going on I need to know. Not just for my own curiosity, but for the well being of our entire family. I'm very sorry to be so blunt about this, but I need you to tell me the truth right now. Are you sleeping with Ranma?"

Nabiki was speechless. In the back of her mind, she knew that Kasumi's Oblivious Housewife persona was just as artificial as her Ice Queen, but to see Kasumi drop it completely was still enough to take anyone by surprise. She swallowed hard as she made her decision. It was really her only option, after all. She looked her sister straight in the eyes, and proceeded to…

Nabiki only had one choice, really. She couldn't tell the truth, because her Master had ordered her not to, but she couldn't lie to Kasumi, because Kasumi was the kind of person you can't lie to without feeling unbelievably guilty. So, she'd have to refuse to answer the question—at least until she could talk with Ran—

"Yeah, we are." The two sisters whipped their heads around to see a pigtailed martial artist standing there, with slumped shoulders and a resigned look on his face. "We've been… uh… havin' sex."

Nabiki looked at her owner as if he'd just grown horns. He had seemed so insistent on keeping this a secret earlier, and now he just blabbed it out to Kasumi. She prayed to every kami she could think of that her Master wouldn't shove his foot in his mouth (again) and reveal too many details.

Kasumi sighed as she turned to Ranma, knowing that he'd be freer with his information. "How long has this been going on?"

"Um… 'bout a week, I guess."

"I see. And have you been using protection?"

Upon seeing her Master's deer-in-the-headlights look, Nabiki spoke up: "Of course. I've been on the pill for a while now." It made sense—the boys at Furinkan had an annoying tendency to think with their hormones, and one could never be too careful.

"Good," said Kasumi, knowing that the most problematic crisis was most likely averted. There were other matters to deal with though. "Is this just a physical relationship, or are the two of you going to make some sort of commitment?"

"Well, we do have an idea," Nabiki replied, and after getting a quick nod of approval from Ranma she outlined the basics of their engagement (and, if necessary, marriage) plan.

Kasumi nodded as Nabiki went into some of the details. _They've really given this a lot of thought. Akane will probably be devastated when she learns that she's lost Ranma, but she's strong. With some help, I know she'll be able to get over it._ When Nabiki finished up, her sister already knew what she was going to say. "Well, you've certainly come up with a good plan, and I think it will work. However, you may need a little help with some of the details."

Ranma looked confused. "Uhh… Kasumi, what d'ya mean by 'help'?"

Kasumi smiled warmly at the man she was already thinking of as Nabiki's fiancé. "Well, I _do_ have a lot of influence in this house, and I can tell right away that you'll have a tough time convincing our fathers to keep this arrangement secret, so I can certainly help you there." Seeing the nods of recognition, her smile grew more impish as she continued. "And the walls in this house are so thin… I'm sure you'll needs some help arranging things so that the two of you can have some privacy." Kasumi fought the urge to wink at her sister. She lost.

Ranma did what he always did when taken by surprise… he talked without thinking. "That's it? Ya ain't even curious—"

Fortunately for him, Kasumi covered his mouth before he could say anything else. "What the two of you do together is none of my business, as long as you both agree to it."

Well, _that_ was certainly true—the two of them had gone out of their way to make sure their relationship was consensual. Kasumi noticed their relief at this point and giggled silently to herself. _Look at them. They're so innocent—they probably think I'd be shocked by the stuff they're doing._ (It's important to point out here that Kasumi thought the relationship between Ranma and her sister consisted of two inexperienced teenagers clumsily trying to figure out how to have sex. If she had known that they were, instead, a pair of inexperienced teenagers who knew _exactly_ how to have sex in the kinkiest of ways, she _would_ have been shocked.)

But as fun as it was to speculate on Ranma and Nabiki's sex life, Kasumi was, first and foremost, a homemaker, and there was work to be done. "Alright you two, I need to finish the laundry and start dinner before everyone else gets home. I'll be in the kitchen, so try to keep it down if you decide to have some fun. I'll make sure nobody walks in on you." With that, the teenaged matriarch set about her work. Leaving two stunned teenagers behind her.

Apparently, Karma had finally realized that it owed Ranma one **huge** favor.

"Well, Ma—er—Ranma," Nabiki said, remembering the pigtailed martial artist's rule about collarless behavior, "this is certainly going to make things easier for us."

"Ya got that right."

"So—"

"Yeah?"

"Are we going to take advantage of Kasumi's offer?"

"Whaddya mean by that, Nabiki?"

Nabiki had a tough time resisting the urge to roll her eyes. From the smirk on his face, it was obvious that Ranma knew _exactly_ what she meant, but apparently he enjoyed pretending to be naïve. "I mean, are we going to have sex?" _He's probably got something planned, but he doesn't want me to know what it is._

"Ehh… maybe later. I'm still kinda tired from our last session."

 _Oh yeah, he's_ _ **definitely**_ _got something planned. I'd better make sure that I'm near the collar when he "surprises" me._ Ranma was still new to the realm of deviousness, after all, and Nabiki could still read her owner like a book. She decided to "do her homework" in the dojo ( _yeah, right_ ) so that Ranma wouldn't have to go far when he "suddenly" put the collar around her.

Unfortunately for her, this was Nabiki making those deductions, and not the Ice Queen, who apparently went into hibernation in the presence of her owner. Ranma did indeed have a plan. He really was still tired—no matter how many ancient lovemaking secrets he knew, after two or three hours of vigorous sex, there was no way "little Ranma" would be able to participate in any fun activities for at least half a day, if not longer. (And that's taking Ranma's Wolverine-like recuperative abilities into account. A normal guy on the street would probably be in a coma for a month.) But then, Ranma knew that he didn't need "little Ranma" to have fun…

As Nabiki started to leave the room Ranma called out, "Hold it." Nabiki stopped where she stood—not because her Master had told her (she wasn't wearing the collar, so she didn't _have_ to follow his orders, right?), but because Ranma had physically restrained her—by putting his hand down her shorts and grabbing her sex through her panties. "Where d'ya think _yer_ goin'?"

He drew her closer to himself, pressing her back up against his chest. Nabiki couldn't see his face, but she could hear his smirk in his voice. For her part, she was experiencing something that rarely happened to her—bewilderment. "But you said… later…"

Her master brought his mouth to her ear and quietly responded. "That I did. And it's five seconds later, ain't it?" As Ranma began to lead her back into the family room, his other hand began to squeeze her breast, with some light kisses on her neck for good measure.

"B-But you said you were tired…"

"I don't _have_ ta use a dick ta have fun with ya." Ranma's smirk grew wider. He must have _really_ caught Nabiki off guard if she her attempts at conversation consisted entirely of stating the obvious like this. "Why don't we watch some TV? I like watchin' TV with you." He continued to fondle her as they sat down. "I think DBZ is on… D'ya mind changing the channel? My hands're full right now." Nabiki shakily picked up the remote control, then nearly dropped it as her owner hit a pressure point near her labia that nearly made her head explode. (It was one of the many, many points described in Ranma's book that temporarily increased the sensitivity of the female body. When they were all hit at once the results were… interesting—but that's another story.)

Nabiki was gasping for breath as she tried to ask Ranma another question. As a result, all Ranma could make out was "Collar?"

"The contract says I can have ya whenever I want—it don't mention a collar nowhere. Yer my pet, and that's in effect 24-7, whether yer wearin' the collar or not." He paused to put his hand inside her shirt and push her bra out of the way before resuming. "When ya ain't wearin' the collar, yer s'posed ta act like everything's normal."

Nabiki had regained enough of her composure to make a more coherent statement. "But—Master—how do I?"

That earned her a rough squeeze on her breast that lasted for several seconds. "Didn'cha hear me? Ya ain't s'posed ta act that way without yer collar!" Ranma hissed.

Nabiki tried again. "Ranma—how?"

Ranma brought his face forward to where Nabiki could see it. He was still wearing that smirk, but there was a touch of warmth in it, enough that she didn't feel _quite_ as intimidated as she had before. His response also contained that mixture of deviousness and kindness: "Yer a smart girl. I bet you'll figure somethin' out. But ya better do it quietly. Kasumi _did_ ask us ta keep the noise down, after all." Ranma moved his lower hand inside his pet's by now very damp panties, and continued his ministrations as he settled back to watch Son Goku thrash his latest adversary.

Nabiki, for her part, tried her best to restrain her moans of passion. Somehow her interior monologue managed to formulate a complete sentence: _What next?_

 **by Kender**

Normally, 'Dragonball' was not Nabiki's sort of show, as she tended not to be really into all sorts of intense fighting. She did like manga, and was a bit into anime, but her thing was more towards series where the hero or heroine had to win over the bad guys with their wits, and a lot of luck, if what she was reading had fighting at all. However, at this moment, she was trying to watch it with everything that she had, almost as if her sanity depended on it.

Oddly enough, that just might have been the case, though she was able to mock herself on one assumption. Only a little while earlier, she'd thought that her owner would only want to have sexual encounters with her when she had the collar on. But now she realized that whether she was being 'Nabiki' or 'the pet', he wanted her. That sent a thrill through her, as she realized that he desired her for something beyond simple fantasy uses, and that he wanted to possess her.

Of course, all of these considerations were little spurts of revelation, as she was a bit to busy actively consider much else beyond trying damned hard to do as he'd told her.

So, she sat stock still, and let him touch her body in ways that other boys would only dream about. There had been plenty of boys who had desired her at school, and many of her classmates would have wanted to have the opportunity to play with a shapely girl's body freely, but Ranma was doing it. Not that she minded, both since he owned her, and he was making her feel so _good_.

Her eyes kept on wanting to flick back to him, to soak in the obvious pleasure that he was having in touching her, but he had told her to do otherwise, and so she watched the show that he'd picked. It wasn't something that she terribly minded, but she did want to do something, even if she knew that she couldn't.

Because of that, she found herself actually trying to distance herself from her own body. Being his possession was something that she wanted to revel in, and she would have had she been given the chance. Instead, she tried to merely note what he was doing.

Ranma didn't seem to even notice, as he was both watching the show, and playing with her body. The hand up her blouse played on with her breasts, hefting and squeezing the firm orbs. Her nipples tightened quickly as he rolled and pulled at them, and marked her breasts as belonging to him. That was how she saw it herself, as she mentally tried to rationalize it, in order to keep what frayed lines of control that she had. As he tapped points on her breasts that had them feeling heavy, full, and aching desperately for his touch, she told herself that it was fine, and that they were there for his enjoyment.

Not that it stopped her from breathing heavily and nearly bending her back so that she could place a breast into his palm. It was something that she wanted to do, but she couldn't, so she kept her peace as best that she could.

Then again, that didn't help her much as his other hand gripped her mound, with its fingers wrapped over her petals with a possessive edge. Just the touches that came over with them were enough to make her mind go silly, and she had to fight the urge to lurch towards him. He rubbed along those soft lips, and played her like a concert pianist. Her whole body was strumming from the excitement that he was driving through her by flicking and stroking her folds, and she had to grip the remote _hard_ just to keep herself from losing control.

And that was when he slid his middle finger into her tight and slick channel. Her breath stopped when he did that, and he started to wriggle it about inside of her. Stars shot up behind her eyes, and she could barely even tell that there were two guys fighting on the screen.

'It's... okay,' she told herself. 'My... It belongs to him. It's his toy, to play with when, and how he likes. The only purpose that it has is to pleasure and please him.'

Thinking of her body parts as merely pieces that he could take away from her to play with did help some, even if she knew that it was a total fabrication. _She_ was his pet, and her body and mind came as a package for him to enjoy. But this gave her a modicum of control, just enough so that she could be putting on the look of watching a show, even if her reality were the two hands that were doing such wonderful things to her.

Even that was hard pressed when he leaned over and began to kiss and nibble upon her. The sounds that he made as his mouth touched her from her shoulders up were those of a very pleased man. That made her glad, as she didn't want even a bit of an idea that she was failing him to come into play. Just what he could do to her _ear_ , what with his licking and kissing, sent shivers down her back.

However, she was jolted again, as he leaned his head over to her ear. "Ya know somethin' cool 'bout ownin' ya? I can undress ya any time that I want."

She would have agreed with him, but he was already moving. The hand that had been playing under her shirt tickled her belly before taking the bottom of her blouse, and lifting it up to rest on the tops of her breasts, almost like placing it on a shelf. That exposed her chest totally, since he'd already pulled the full mounds from their bra cups, and left them looking rather lovely as they hung freely in the air. When he pressed his cheek against one breast, squashing it against his face, it was oddly touching, as well as erotic.

But that was not all, as he slipped his hand up just long enough to slide her shorts and damp panties down her shapely hips, and onto her legs. It would have been an odd sight for anyone looking, as they would have seen her seemingly totally oblivious to what he was doing as he stripped and fondled her. Yet, that would be far from the truth, as it was all that she could think about. His fingers had easier access to her, and he used it to great effect. No longer was he constrained by her clothing, and he began to stroke against her skin in other spots, even as he continued to play with her breasts and womanhood, almost as if they were the most erotic toys ever. By his smile, one could see that he was close to thinking of them as such, but his concern, and feelings for her kept him from doing so.

"Ya know? Ya should enjoy this," he whispered to her, almost in the sort of way that someone would remind someone else of something, without wanting to disrupt the show.

Hearing that was all that she needed, as her eyes glazed over, and her nipples went totally to stiff points. She still sat, her eyes pointed towards the television screen, even if she couldn't focus on it. One by one, her body unconsciously trembled as he slid fingers into her, and when he began to really pump them into her, she had the sound of her own stifled whimpers echoing in her head. Each thrust made her breasts bounce, and he took full advantage of that, as he cupped and pulled at each mound with the motions.

When release finally came for her, her tightness strengthened on those fingers deep within her. Her body wanted nothing more than to have him stay where he was, and she wasn't able to fight it. This was too wonderful to pass up, and his orders kept her from doing anything else. By the time that the wave of pleasure finally stopped crashing over her senses, she was panting for air, and caring about nothing but what her Master had given her.

Seeing her reaction to it seemed to please him, and he tweaked her breasts and clit, almost as a parting shot. Then, he redressed her, slipping her breasts back into their cups, dropping her shirt down, and pulling her shorts and panties back up snug against her crotch. And as for his hand, there was a previously used, and still effective way to deal with her juices. With that done, she was looking rather normal, though a bit flushed, even though she was feeling very much as the 'happily taken woman'.

"Feel good?" he asked simply.

Nabiki had to swallow several times before she could respond. "Yes."

"That's great ta hear."

"I'm glad that you're happy, Ma... Ranma."

"Trust me, I am," he responded, and ran a hand down her bare thigh so possessively that she could almost see a bill of ownership of her leg floating in her mind's eye. "I think that times like this can be good too."

"Just using your hands?"

"That too. I meant, without the collar."

"Oh?"

"It's good ta have the girl, as much as the pet."

"Ranma..."

"That's enough for now, but be sure that we can, and will be doing a lot later," he told her, patting her backside.

Smiling back at him, she let herself rest against his side for a moment, pressing the side of her breast against his body, with her head on his shoulder. It was a terribly romantic gesture, but she didn't care. She cared deeply for this young man, and being owned by him was turning out to be better than she could hope. The simple gesture was quickly finished, as she sat back up straight, looking as if nothing had happened, but it had great meaning.

But even as they were done, she stayed. As soon as he was done with playing with her, she could have left. Yet, she had no desire to do so. Instead, she wanted to sit and watch 'Dragonball Z' with him, not because she had to, but because this show meant something to him, and she wanted to share it with him.

His hand went back onto her thigh, close to her crotch, in understanding, appreciation, and possession, all of which pleased her, while:

 **by Kwakerjak**

After the show ended, Nabiki excused herself and headed upstairs to change out of her (very) wet panties. Ranma briefly considered getting the collar from its hiding place in the dojo, but decided against it. The rest of the household would be coming home soon, and Kasumi would be serving dinner right after that, and after all the energy he'd expended that afternoon, he was _really_ hungry. Besides, he had an idea about what to do next time… But that was for later. Right now there were other things to occupy his mind.

He didn't have a clue how Nabiki would react to his rather strict interpretation of his first rule. Apparently, she'd decided that it meant that she'd act like nothing was going on while he played with her. That had been fun for a while, but when she kept the act up even after he partially disrobed her, that had felt… weird. It was as though she had been a mindless doll—and he wasn't interested in that. He was hoping that she could start practicing for when he eventually fulfilled some of her more public fantasies; in other words, he wanted to be able to fuck her in a crowded place without anyone getting suspicious. _But I don't want her ta act like nuthin's goin' on when it's obvious that that ain't true._

Another part of Ranma's mind had an answer for that. _Well, ya better tell her that, 'cuz she apparently thinks ya want her ta act that way whenever ya play without the collar._ Another item on his ever-growing "to do" list.

 _I'll do it tonight, after we get the engagement mess taken care of._ And it would be a mess; Akane would see the whole thing as a rejection on his part and maybe a betrayal on the part of Nabiki. Getting her to keep it secret would be almost as hard as convincing their fathers, but it was necessary. He didn't know what the other fiancées would do when they found out, but he did know that if Nabiki was attacked, she wouldn't stand a chance. And Ranma could bear the thought of letting someone who showed him so much trust getting hurt.

Suddenly, he was startled out of his reverie by a familiar voice… and it was irritated. As usual. "What are you daydreaming about, baka?"

Ranma grimaced to himself. _I can't believe I let Akane sneak up on me. This better not become a habit._ He glanced over his shoulder to answer her.

Dinner went pretty much as expected; food was served, food was eaten, food was stolen, insults were traded, mallets were brought out, manhood was questioned, and irate martial artists sent equally irate martial artists flying into the koi pond. Par for the course, really. Only Kasumi noticed that Nabiki neither made her usual insinuations about Ranma's sex life nor threatened to extort money out of the (currently redheaded) martial artist. As the meal wound down, she went to get the kettle from the stove, figuring that Ranma would want to be male when he and Nabiki made their proposal.

The two of them hadn't decided exactly how to go about bringing it up—almost as if they feared relying too much on one plan would necessarily cause it to go haywire. But then, this was a fear born out of experience—one could never underestimate the lengths to which chaos would go to disrupt the life of Ranma Saotome.

After regaining his preferred form and waiting for the calming presence of Kasumi to reenter the room, Ranma looked at his pet, and decided that the best way to bring up the subject was through his characteristic bluntness. "Pops, Mr. Tendo? We gotta talk about the engagement." The results were… predictable.

"Fine, it's not like wanted to marry the baka in the first place."

"YOU WILL MARRY AKANE!"

"Have you no honor, boy?"

"Will ya let me finish?! Ya don't even know _why_ I want ta talk about it yet!"

Realizing their mistake, the two men simultaneously reached the most logical conclusion (well, logical for them). "You've agreed to go through with the engagement!" Victory fans were brought out, jigs were danced, annoying songs were sung, and tears ( _many_ tears) were shed in joy."

Akane was incensed. "You think you can just decide that we're gonna marry without even telling me?! Dry up and die, baka!"

" **Stop that this instant."** All activity abruptly ceased as the room's occupants stared at Kasumi with shock (and quite a bit of fear); on her face was, well, it wasn't a _frown_ , per se, but it definitely wasn't a smile, either. "I think you all should listen to what Ranma has to say." The voice of a disapproving Kasumi is not one to be disobeyed. All attention turned back to Ranma.

"Uh… thanks, Kasumi. Like I was saying, it's kinda obvious that the engagement with Akane has a lot of problems" —a cold stare from the Tendo matriarch kept the aforementioned fiancée from exploding— "and right now, I'm not certain we'll be able to work things out."

Genma was visibly trying to restrain himself when he replied: "Boy, you are honor bound to marry Akane."

"No, he isn't." Heads swiveled to view Nabiki, who had been unusually silent up to this point. Soun started crying at his daughter's willingness to betray family honor.

Nabiki rolled her eyes and continued, "Ranma is honor bound to marry a _Tendo_."

"What? Nabiki, what do you… mean…" About this time, those around the table noticed that Nabiki had placed her hand in Ranma's.

"Uh… yeah. I—we were wonderin' if you could switch the engagement ta Nabiki."

Soun was still recovering from the discovery that Ranma and Nabiki apparently had a relationship. "Um… certainly, Ranma. That should meet the conditions of the agreement, right, Saotome."

"—What? Oh, yes, yes it should."

Akane couldn't believe her ears. Nabiki must have somehow tricked Ranma into agreeing to have the engagement switched to herself. Well, she'd put a stop to that. "Come on, Nabiki. We all know you're just doing this to make another crap load of money by selling Ranma off to the highest bidder—again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Soun nodded his head. "That _is_ a good point, Akane. Nabiki, how can we be sure that _you're_ willing to go through with it?"

Nabiki sighed and looked at her owner. Apparently, they _would_ have to use their trump card. Ranma nodded his head, and answered, "We talked this over, and we're willing ta get married tonight if we gotta."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before the pigtailed martial artist broke it. "Ya can do yer stupid victory dance now." The fathers proceeded to do so.

After several minutes of this, Soun and Genma started discussing wedding plans. "HOLD IT!"

"What's wrong, boy? You said you were willing to go through with the engagement to Nabiki—even to get married tonight!"

"We are willing ta go through with it. But you two have gotta keep it secret."

Nabiki nodded, adding, "That means no announcements, no ceremony, and especially no blabbing it out when you get drunk! If we get married, it will have to be on paper only. We'll worry about decorum _after_ Ranma deals with all of his obscenely powerful suitors. In case you didn't notice, if one of them challenged me to physical combat, I'd get my ass handed to me on a platter!"

"I see. Well, daughter, it appears that I will have to renew your training. You'll have to improve quite a bit before you can safely announce your marriage to the world. Besides, since you've married Ranma, you are now the heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes, after all. We can't have an heir who isn't skilled in the Art, now can we? We'll begin tomorrow."

Genma chose that time to interrupt. "In the meantime, old friend, we have only half an hour before the ward's offices close. If we want these two to get married, we'll need to hurry!"

Kasumi was alone in the family room. Ranma and Nabiki's plan had worked. Granted, they probably would have preferred to wait and make sure that they were in love beforehand, but at least their fathers had realized they were serious. Akane, on the other hand… _Oh my._

Akane had gone upstairs to as soon as she'd realized that Nabiki wasn't employing some moneymaking scheme; she was really willing to marry Ranma. Kasumi knew that her sister needed someone to talk to, and she hoped that she could be that person. She went upstairs and knocked on Akane's door

1:00 AM.

Nabiki Saotome (known to those outside of her family as Nabiki Tendo) stared at the clock on her wall and tried to make sense of the most eventful day of her life. In the last twelve hours, she'd given herself utterly and completely to Ranma, had the best sex of her life (though if her brief glances through _The Master's Way With the Opposite Gender_ were anything to go by, what she went through today was only the beginning), learned not to underestimate her older sister, gained said sister as an ally (and an important one at that), got engaged to her owner, and married him, even if it was only on paper at the moment. It seemed like Ranma's usual horrible luck had forgotten about him; the only real downside to the whole thing was Akane's reaction.

As she had suspected, her little sister _did_ harbor feelings for her Master under her angry exterior. Nabiki hoped she'd be alright; she'd never wanted to hurt her, and she wouldn't have if this hadn't been necessary. Kasumi had said that she'd be okay, and Nabiki really wanted that to be true—because they _would_ need Akane's help; if she didn't agree to continue pretending to be Ranma's fiancée they were screwed.

Speaking of screwing, Nabiki was a little disappointed that she would be unable to share a room with her owner until their marriage could be safely announced, but that couldn't be helped. Several of Ranma's suitors had an annoying tendency to make surprise visits in the middle of the night, so Ranma would have to stay with his father for now.

Of course, Ranma was currently alone in his room as well, since their fathers were celebrating the joining of the schools. The way those two drank, it was absolutely necessary for her to wring a promise from them not to patronize any Neriman watering holes until the marriage had been announce publicly. They had then immediately left for a bar in Juuban that Soun knew about, leaving the newlyweds to inform Nodoka of the marriage. Knowing that _she'd_ probably be just as excited about the marriage, the Saotomes had delegated this responsibility to Kasumi, who'd be more likely to convince Nodoka of the need for secrecy. Nodoka had reluctantly agreed only when she had been promised an extravagant ceremony when the time came. As it was, she'd be coming over sometime this week.

Kasumi, who had apparently decided that her new favorite way to ease her boredom was to make sure the two of them had as much sex as possible, informed them that they didn't have to go to school tomorrow; instead, she'd tell anyone who asked that they were sick. (And according to her, it was true. " _Love_ sick," she had clarified with a giggle.) Nabiki supposed she could do worse as far as honeymoons went. She idly wondered what her Master was doing.

This was conveniently answered for her when she heard a tapping at her window. Smiling, she got up and opened it, letting her owner inside her room. She was a bit surprised when the first thing he did was embrace her—there was nothing sensual in the hug, just a lot of emotion—and it took her a moment for her brain to react before she began returning it. When they finished, he smiled broadly at her. "How're ya feelin', Mrs. Saotome?"

She gave him a smile of her own. "I'm fine, Ranma."

"Hey, yer gettin' better—ya didn't even stumble over what ta call me that time."

"Well, once I figured out those rules of yours, it wasn't that hard."

"Uh, yeah, actually, I kinda wanted ta talk to ya about that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, this afternoon, I was kinda just makin' them up on the fly, ya know? And now that I've had some time ta think about it, I wanna try and make them clearer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, take this evening, when we were watchin' TV, for example. At first, you were actin' the way I expected—on the outside ya looked like I wasn't actually doin' anything to ya. I was hopin' it would be like that, 'cuz that way if we're ever in a crowded place, I can, ya know, have my way with ya an' no-one will notice."

Nabiki blushed bright red when she realized that her owner wanted to use her in public—granted, he wanted to do it covertly, but still, the idea sent chills down her spine.

Ranma continued, "But when pulled up yer shirt and pulled down yer shorts and panties, it got real weird there. I mean, I don't know about you, but I think any girl would notice if someone started takin' her clothes off, but ya just kept watchin' TV like I wasn't there. If someone had walked in on us, they'd have definitely noticed that!"

"So what do you want me to change?"

"Nuthin' much, just use that head of yours in the future, okay? It's yer most beautiful part, anyway."

"Thanks, Ranma. Did you spend all night thinking of that one?" Her gratitude _was_ genuine, but so was her curiosity.

"Yeah, but that don't make it any less true."

"You're really sweet." It was Ranma's turn to blush. "Is that all?"

"Actually, no." Ranma tossed a strip of leather to her. It was the collar. "I ain't gonna be sleepin' for a while, and neither will you. Put that on, strip down, and meet me in the furo. In that order."

"I take it you want me to walk through the house naked?"

"You got it." With that, her Master popped back out the window, no doubt to get ready for her imminent arrival. Nabiki took another deep breath as she began to follow his orders. _I don't want to keep Master waiting._

"Master?" asked Nabiki as she entered the changing room.

"In here," came a voice from the furo. When Nabiki entered, she saw her owner, clad in a towel, sitting on the stool. "Stand right where ya are… I wanna take a good look at ya." She stopped, complying with her Master's orders while he got up an started gazing at her with a critical.

Ranma still couldn't believe what was before him. Physically, it seemed like Nabiki was perfect in every way. Being a typical guy, his eyes were first drawn to her breasts—round, firm globes with really cute brown nipples, they were just the right size to make her look sexy as opposed to cute—unlike his girlform, whose breasts were way too big for her small frame. Even if she hadn't practiced the Art in a while, it was obvious she kept in shape—her abs were flat and her waist was thin, and her arms had just the right amount of muscle on them to make sure that she didn't look too skinny. As he moved behind his pet, he ran his fingers down her spine—man, even her back was sexy too! Her lower half was just as stunning: long, shapely legs, tight backside, and a pussy that could put an O'Keefe painting to shame.

"Do you like what you see, Master?" When he had said he wanted to look at her, she thought he would look her over like a piece of livestock (and she wouldn't have minded), but instead, all his poking and prodding reminded her of a judge at a dog show, examining a top example of the species.

"Yeah, I do, and I still can't believe it's mine." Hearing this, Nabiki felt the usual thrill she got from being treated like property.

"Ya took a bath earlier today, right?"

 _Look's like the fun's going to start soon._ "Yes master, right before dinner."

"Did ya wash all of yerself?"

That was a confusing response. "Um, yes."

"Every single part?"

"Every single part." _Why is he so obsessed with cleanliness now?_

"Even yer pussy."

"Yes, even my…" Comprehension dawned on Nabiki's face.

Her suspicions were confirmed by Ranma's next question. "Would ya mind telling me _how_ ya washed that part without touchin' it? 'Cuz I know I didn't give you permission ta do that."

Nabiki winced. "I'm sorry Master. I thought that rule only applied to masturbation."

Her owner had a stern look on his face. "The rule isn't about _pleasuring_ yourself, it's about _touching_ yourself—yer not allowed ta do it for any reason without my permission. And that rule applies whether or not yer wearin' yer collar."

Nabiki stared at the floor, unwilling to look her owner in the eyes. "I'm sorry," she meekly repeated.

"I know ya are, but I'm still gonna have ta punish ya anyway." Ranma dropped his towel and put it in the changing room. "Now, I decided ta do this in here 'cuz I don't think we'll wake anyone, as long as ya keep things at a reasonable volume, okay?" A nod from his pet. "Now, we're gonna have sex, but as punishment for touchin' yerself without permission, ya ain't allowed ta cum. Got it?"

"Yes, Master."

Smiling, Ranma walked back into the furo. "One more thing before we start."

"What is it, Master?"

Ranma raised a bucket over his head and said, "When I'm a girl, it's 'Mistress.'"

Nabiki was experiencing an eerie feeling of déjà vu. When her owner had improvised the rules for their relationship, she had been surprised when he declared his intent to possess her in his girlform, and now she was just as surprised when that girlform appeared right in front of her. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why her owner had spontaneously developed an interest in the petite, busty, redheaded and female body he had been cursed with. It had to be more than just curiosity—masturbation could have taken care of that.

Then again, most guys don't cling to their masculinity like socks in a dryer. Perhaps her Mistress thought that if she brought herself to orgasm as a result of touching herself, that would be emasculating—especially if she enjoyed it. By passively receiving stimulation from her pet, perhaps she would feel less guilty than she would if she actively masturbated.

Nabiki considered that possibility, but rejected it—her owner was too dominant to be willingly passive in _any_ activity. Her suspicion was confirmed when her Mistress embraced her and attempted kissed her as hard as possible. While Nabiki was surprised to find that she found the act of kissing another woman to be arousing (not to mention the way her breasts were mashing and rubbing against those of her Mistress), that arousal was lessened considerably by the nagging feeling that something was amiss. Ranma-chan was obviously trying to hide her discomfort by putting as much intensity as possible into her actions. While outwardly, Nabiki was doing her best to reciprocate those actions, inside her head, the Ice Queen was furiously analyzing the situation—and the presence of the Ice Queen _definitely_ meant something was wrong.

 _Alright, my owner has, for no apparent reason, decided to initiate same-sex activities with me despite the fact that she is obviously uncomfortable doing so. Curiosity about the female body has already been ruled out as a possible explanation. Perhaps Mistress is hoping I'll be initially uncomfortable, and this is my punishment for breaking her rule—but then, she probably wouldn't have told me to refrain from climaxing during this session if that were the case, as she would want to know if I could truly become aroused by this type of contact. Perhaps she's just really horny and little Ranma's still out of commission—but Ranma wouldn't risk his masculinity over an orgasm. But then, what could it be?_ There was only one way Nabiki could know for certain what her owner was trying to do. She would have to ask—as soon as Mistress broke off the kiss (after all, her mouth _did_ belong to Ranma-chan).

Eventually, her Mistress _did_ have to come up for air, and when that happened, Nabiki seized the opportunity. "Mistress, may I ask you a question before we continue?"

"Um, sure, Nabiki. Go ahead."

"Why are you doing this?"

Ranma's look became inscrutable. "Why? Because I wanna, that's why."

"I know, but _why_ do you want to?"

"Hey, I don't need ta give a reason for wanting ta have sex with ya."

"That's not what I meant. I want to know if there's a reason you want to have sex with me while you're a girl—and please don't dodge the question, Mistress. You've never been comfortable with your cursed form, and I can't see why you'd do something with me that you don't really want to do."

Sighing, Ranma released her hold on her pet. She sat down by the furo and massaged her temples as she tried to figure out how to respond to her pet without having to explain herself—sure, she could have just said "no" to Nabiki's requests for information, but it was clear that the submissive in front of her was concerned about her Mistress's well-being. _Ugh. I guess I'll just have ta tell her._ She lifted her head and looked at her pet. "Siddown, Nabiki. This'll take awhile."

Once her pet sat down beside her, Ranma took a deep breath. "I'm not sure whether or not you'll believe any of the reasons I'm gonna give ya, so maybe you should tell me what you'll have trouble believin'."

"Well, I don't think you're doing this because you want to know how a woman orgasms, because you don't need me to do it. I don't think it's part of my punishment, because punishing me by forcing me to have sex would be counterproductive, as I'd probably be able to enjoy myself no matter what your form is. And I find it hard to believe that you'd risk your masculine self-image just because you're horny and your penis is still out of commission."

"Well, there goes my first three excuses." After her half-hearted attempt at a joke, Ranma grew silent. As Nabiki looked at her Mistress, she could she the beginnings of a deep blush—not one of arousal or embarrassment, but of… shame?

"Mistress, is something wrong?"

Ranma answer was choked with emotion. "Oh somethin's wrong, alright. Me!"

"What do you mean?"

"Ain't it obvious? I'm a guy who turns inta a girl, but I've never done nuthin' with it!"

Nabiki needed a few moments to decipher that statement. "You mean you've never masturbated when you were a girl?"

"No!"

"Mistress, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to—" Nabiki was interrupted angrily by her owner.

"Yes there is! Every guy at school is obsessed with it! That's the only thing they wanna talk about with me. It's always, 'Hey Ranma, is it better as a boy or a girl?' or 'What's it like to cum more than once?'—and that's if I'm lucky. Most of the time the perverts wanna know more. They all wanna know what it's like ta sleep with Akane or Ukyo or Shampoo when I'm a girl, as if the first thing they'd do if they had this stupid curse is go out an' have lesbian sex."

"So why don't you just tell them to back off?"

"I do! But every time Shampoo or Ukyo glomps my girlform in public they start up again!"

"So what? They're perverts. _They're_ the ones who are screwed up."

"That ain't what Mom thinks."

 _Oh, great. If Nodoka's whacked-out ideas about "manliness" are involved, there's no telling_ what's _going on here._ "What happened?"

"The a few weeks ago, she decided ta talk ta me about, you know, sex."

 _Well, that's just wonderful._ "What did she say?"

"Well, it was mostly about how I shouldn't ignore the way whoever it is I'm sleepin' with feels."

"And you don't, Mistress. I'll testify to that." Nabiki's owner was in serious need of an ego boost—of _any_ kind.

"But then she started talkin' about my girl side an' how I should deal with that in bed… and…"

The dam was about to burst, and Nabiki knew it. With great trepidation, she urged her owner on. "And what?"

"And she said it's normal ta want ta do it with just girls an' that I shouldn't be ashamed of it an' I wouldn't be a man if I didn't wanna anyway…"

 _Holy shit. Only Nodoka could say something like that—and only Ranma would react to it this way._ Nabiki was beginning to wonder if her new mother-in-law had _any_ idea of the effect that her words had on her son. She may have released Ranma from the seppuku contract, but Ranma was still constantly trying to live up to her bizarre standards of manhood. _I bet she was trying to reassure him at the time, too._ She looked at her owner's face—it was obvious that Ranma was holding back tears. Coming to a decision, she addressed the distraught redhead. "Mistress, if you need to… express your emotions, I won't tell anyone."

Ranma needed no further cue. She immediately wrapped her arms around Nabiki and started sobbing into her shoulder. "I j-just—I just want s-somethin'—anything ab-bout me ta be n-normal… J-Just one thing…"

"Shhh. Don't talk, Mistress. Just let it out."

So Ranma sat there, crying into her pet's shoulder for what seemed like ours. Nabiki wasn't particularly surprised by this—someone who'd been raised to consider expressiveness to be "unmanly" no doubt had a lot of emotions to drain out. Nabiki didn't mind; she used the time to figure out what she would say to her owner when this was done. She briefly wished her collar was off—it was going to be awkward referring to Ranma as "Mistress" while trying to reinforce her masculinity.

When Ranma finally lifted her head, Nabiki looked directly into her tear-soaked blue eyes. "Mistress, don't ever let someone do that to you. No one has the right to judge you because of your sexuality—whether it's because of the things you do, or the things you _don't_ want to do. Just because you aren't obsessed with lesbianism the way other guys are, doesn't make you any less of a man. Do you understand?"

"I think so." There was a long pause—long enough to make them remember that there were two very sexy and very naked women in the room, and they were hugging each other rather tightly (and provocatively) at the moment. Ranma released her pet with a soft chuckle. "Thanks, Nabiki. I think I needed that. Ya can take the collar off, by the way. I think the mood's been pretty much killed for tonight."

Nabiki removed her neckwear before responding. "That's true enough. Besides, we have all day tomorrow to have whatever kind of fun we—I mean you want."

"I thought whatever I want _was_ what ya wanted."

"You know what I meant. Well, I'd better get back to my room and put some clothes on before someone sees me."

"Uh, Nabiki, wait."

"What is it, Ranma?"

"Uh, I know this might seem kinda weird, especially after what we just did, but eventually I _do_ wanna try it with both of us as girls."

"Are you sure about that, Ranma?"

"Well, not totally, but I have been thinkin' about it."

"Ranma, you don't need to try new things with me just to make yourself feel 'normal.'"

"It's not that. It's just—there was one other reason I wanted to try it."

"Will this take long?" As much as Nabiki wanted to talk about this, she also wanted sleep.

"I don't think so."

Nabiki sat down, and then Ranma continued, "Well, it's 'cuz of you—and I don't mean that I think ya really wanna do this. It's just that when we were having sex today, ya looked like you were havin' so much fun."

"I was, but I think that had as much to do with me being a submissive as with me being a woman."

"Maybe, but part of it's gotta be the fact that yer so comfortable with, ya know, yerself. And ya know I've never really been able ta like this body, and I was hopin' ya could, ya know, show me how ta use it right, or somethin'."

Nabiki wasn't sure what to make of this. Her owner wanted to become more comfortable with her body? That seemed to go against everything Ranma stood for. "Uh, I'll be glad to help you, Ranma. But why?"

"'Cause I've been thinkin'. I've got this curse, an' I'll probably have it for the rest of my life—every time I get close ta gettin' cured, somethin' goes wrong. And if I have to stay cursed, that mean there's always a chance it'll get… locked. Maybe forever. That contract may let me do anything I want ta ya, but ya could still cancel it. I just wanted ta know… in case the worst happened…" The redhead's voice trailed off.

Nabiki hugged her Mistress again, and then got up. "You want my advice? Sleep on it. We can talk about this tomorrow."

"Yeah, sleep sounds good right now."

"Goodnight, _husband_ ," Nabiki added with a smirk.

"Night, Nabiki," replied the redheaded girl. "Remember, ya still got a punishment comin'."

"I know. I'll be good."

So, at 2:00 AM, the newlyweds finally went to bed, even if they had to be in separate rooms.

The next morning…

Kasumi was the only one still in the house when the newlyweds finally woke up, and she told them her plans for their special day. Their time together today would have to suffice as a honeymoon, and she wanted her sister and brother-in-law to have the most romantic one possible under the circumstances. And that meant **privacy**.

Getting them excused from school was no big deal. She had read so many of Dr. Tofu's medical textbooks that she was able to come up with an ailment serious (and contagious) enough to warrant a day spent home from school, but benign enough to explain why the two of them would be perfectly healthy the next day. It was a little obscure (Nepali influenza), but if anyone could catch it, it would be Ranma (and those around him). Recommended treatment: peace and quiet and plenty of bedrest. Though Kasumi thought the two would probably not get much rest while they were in bed.

However, when word got out that the Ranma was sick, the remaining fiancées would no doubt want to drop by to "comfort" him. Thus, she contacted them in order to keep them away. Ukyo was the easier one to convince; after hearing Kasumi's explanation, she reluctantly agreed to stay away from the Tendo compound that day. She also had to restrain herself from cursing when Kasumi subtly implied that she would be "disappointed" if the chef were to send Konatsu to observe the patients. She didn't know what Kasumi was like when she was "disappointed," but, like most Nerimans, she didn't particularly want to find out. But in the end, she decided there was nothing to worry about— _After all, it's not like Ranchan's going to fool around with Nabiki._

Shampoo was a bit more difficult. It turned out that most Amazons acquired an immunity to Nepali influenza early in their childhood. Thus, Cologne suggested that Shampoo could easily administer to her ailing beloved. Stopping _that_ from happening took every ounce of deviousness Kasumi had. In the end, though, it turned out that even Cologne would rather not face the prospect of a disappointed Kasumi. Shampoo was a little despondent, but she soon got over it— _After all, is not like Ranma fool around with mercenary girl._

It was also difficult to keep Nodoka away. True, she knew about the marriage and thus wouldn't mind the activities that would inevitably occupy her daughter-in-law and oh-so-manly son, but Kasumi felt that privacy was essential in this instance, and pointed out that having one's mother walk in on a lovemaking session, even if she does approve, tended to annihilate chances for romance—and that's what honeymoons were about, right?

Her father and Genma, would spend the day consuming various alcoholic beverages (again). And she would be going shopping during the day, and after briefly checking in back home to deposit her purchases and make sure everything was okay, she and Akane would be having a "girl's night out," from which they wouldn't be returning until 1:00 AM. Akane, for her part, was still uneasy about the whole situation, though whether she was more concerned for the well-being of her sister or Ranma was anyone's guess. She had agreed to continue as though she and Ranma were still engaged, but only after her father assured her that she was indeed still the heir to the school—on the condition that she name her future niece or nephew as _her_ heir. Thus, Ranma and Nabiki Saotome had a full day all to themselves. Hopefully.

"Wow, sis. That was some plan. I'm impressed."

"Well, Nabiki, you aren't the only person who's capable of scheming."

"I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Well, I'll see you two later when I stop to check up on you. Today's your day to have fun, and I simply ask that you not destroy the house in the process. Bai bai!"

Kasumi exited the door, leaving behind the two Saotomes, who were, quite frankly, amazed. It appeared that the hurricane of chaos that usually followed Ranma was going to take _another_ day off, and they intended to take full advantage of it.

"Wow."

"Ya can say that again. Kasumi seems ta have all the bases covered, don't she."

"That she does."

"Mmm hmm."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Uhh…"

"We could… watch a movie, or… maybe talk about what happened last night…

"Umm…"

"Or maybe… we should just get down to business."

After a second of contemplation, the two of them said simultaneously, "Business."

"Ya get the collar, I'll get the Instant Jusenkyo."

"I'm on it."

"Good. Oh, and, Nabiki?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks… for what ya did last night."

"Don't worry about it."

"I won't."

Another awkward pause.

"Uhh… ain't you supposed ta be gettin' that collar?"

"Oh, yeah." As Nabiki disappeared upstairs to get her collar, Ranma headed to the dojo, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

Ranma put his chosen packets of Instant Jusenkyo in the kitchen, but he didn't bother mixing them up yet. Though humanoid, animal girls were technically different species from humans—which meant that they could have different chi flows, which might make the pressure points described in his book ineffective. And Ranma was _definitely_ going to use pressure points today—or rather, a specific point. He would have used it last night if hadn't tripped over his personal hang-ups.

Actually, the only reason he was enforcing the "no touching" rule so strictly was so he could have an excuse to try out this particular point on his pet. It was called the Denial Point, because that was exactly what it did. It allowed the subject to become aroused and excited by sexual stimuli, but prevented the subject from climaxing, with the result that increased stimulus generally meant piling on even _more_ more arousal and excitement than that person was normally capable of handling. Theoretically, there was no limit to the amount of intensity the subject could experience, but in reality, if not released from the point, the subject usually just passed out from sensory overload.

In fact, this was one of the reasons that _Master's Way_ suggested that the reader subject _himself_ to the male variation of the point before trying it on his lover; it would allow him to get a sense of just how much denied release a person's mind could handle. (Even so, the book warned that every person was different, and that you should never assume that your lover will have a threshold for arousal as high as you—though if you were male and your lover was female, chances were her threshold would be much higher than yours.) In addition to empathy gained from experience, the Denial Point had another advantage for the male: it dramatically increased his endurance, as Ranma had discovered yesterday.

There was also yet another quirk which made the Denial Point a lot of fun: when release from the point, the subject was granted a physical release that essentially amounted to having all the orgasms one _should_ have gotten from the stimuli received all at once. Not like a balloon suddenly popping in a brief (and extremely intense) explosion, but like a balloon that had been untied—the release happened over a period of time. It was still more intense than a regular orgasm, but it could last as long as 60 seconds (or, theoretically, even longer, but once again sensory overload comes into play). Again, Ranma's personal experience bore this out.

He smiled to himself—Nabiki was in for a surprise. But how to activate it? The female variation of the Denial Point was between the shoulders, just below the nape of the neck—not exactly an easy point to reach surreptitiously. The easiest way to do so was to embrace one's lover, but, as Ranma had found out last night, if he didn't have a good reason to do so, Nabiki would get suspicious. Thus, he tried to come up with another reason to hug his pet before she came back downstairs.

Although he didn't want to, he found his mind wandering back to the late-night scene in the furo. He had always found the standard straight male fascination with lesbians confusing. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in the idea—after all, someone with a curse like his has to prepare for the worst—but he had never _really_ given it serious thought before. But his conversation with his mom and sent him into a panic. He wasn't quite sure exactly what she said, but she seemed to imply that a "man among men" would be interested in partaking of lesbian sex. When Ranma heard that, he didn't know what to do—he had tried so hard to avoid being a pervert (and the malletings that went along with being a pervert) that he did his best to avoid even thinking about sex when he was female. His mother had inadvertently turned his ideas about sex upside-down, and as a result he had found himself desperately trying to find sexual uses for his girlform, to comply with his mother's views on manhood. Masturbation hadn't worked; he— _she_ 'd been to nervous to get aroused. He'd hoped that Nabiki would help him calm down enough to actually enjoy him– , or rather _her_ self, but his worries about being the best had made his pet too concerned about her owner for her to ignore them.

That's when it hit him—when Nabiki had held her Mistress so closely and let the redhead cry endlessly she had actually been showing genuine _concern_ for his well-being. He had never realized that his pet was capable of such tenderness—he had assumed that she was only interested in him for the sex. _Could it be—she couldn't_ really _care about me—right?_ Ranma began to actively consider the possibility that his relationship with Nabiki might actually have a romantic dimension to it. _But that can't be right. Akane said that perverts only care about sex, and the two of us are definitely perverts, so we couldn't be… be…_

Ranma either didn't know how to finish the sentence or he didn't want to—perhaps both. It was a moot point anyway—his pet had just descended from her room, still wearing her pajamas, only now she had a strip of leather around her neck.

"I'm sorry I took so long, but I couldn't remember where I put this thing last night." Nabiki paused when she saw her Master—apparently he had been lost in thought. She briefly wondered why, then shrugged it off. "Anyway… I'm ready, Master."

 _What? No wait, I ain't ready for ya ta be ready yet!_ Ranma was still trying to figure out the best way to apply the Denial Point to his pet. _Gotta stall for time! What'll I do? What'll I do?—I know!_ "Yer, ready, huh? Well, ya don't look that ready."

Nabiki looked somewhat confused. "What do you mean, Master?"

"What do I mean? Come on, I pretty sure I told ya that pets don't need clothes—in fact, I'm gonna make that rule—err, how many do we have?"

"Four—five if you include what you said about taking orders from your girlform."

Ranma didn't want to dwell on that. "Uh… yeah… that one's a given. Anyway, rule five: when ya got the collar on, ya ain't wearin' nuthin' else unless I say so. Alright?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good… And in case ya haven't noticed, yer wearin' somethin' else an' I ain't gonna say so."

Nabiki got the picture, and began to disrobe, "accidentally" showing off her features as she did so. Once again, Ranma was amazed by what seemed to him like the perfect woman—perfect breasts, butt, legs, face, everything. And it was _his_. Whenever he wanted, however he wanted. She couldn't pretend to have a headache, she couldn't withhold sex to punish him—she couldn't even have him arrested for rape or sexual assault. She was completely and utterly his—because he had used some cheap form of hypnosis to find out what her fantasies were.

Ever since he started this relationship with Nabiki, he had been having startling epiphanies on a regular basis—and now he just had one concerning that relationship. He _should_ have been arrested and hauled off to jail. When he used that tea on her, he had totally violated her privacy—and he _knew_ there was no way she would have agreed to that. If she ever found out—it would be over. But then—if he tried to hide it, it would probably be worse. Ranma sighed. The last time he had felt this guilty was when he'd ruined Ukyo's sauce—and that didn't really compare to what he was feeling now.

For her part, Nabiki, who had finished getting undressed, saw her Master looking guilty. _I guess we're going to have another therapy session._ She didn't mind helping her Master out with his personal problems, but she had _really_ wanted the fun to start. "Is something wrong, Master?"

Ranma sighed again. Things had been going so well. They were actually _married_ , for crying out loud! It would be so easy to pretend it never happened…. But in the end, Ranma's conscience won out. _Guess I gotta come clean._ "Yer gonna want yer collar off for this."

 _Uh oh. That can't be good._ Nabiki removed the symbolic strip of leather. "What is it Ranma?"

"Before we go any further, there's somethin' I gotta tell ya. And just so ya know, I won't blame ya if ya rip that contract up an' call the cops on me for this."

Nabiki's face grew more concerned, though she was pretty sure she knew what Ranma was going to admit to. "What do you mean?"

"Well, ya know the first time we did this? When I pretty much just came up, splashed ya and put the collar on ya before ya knew what was happenin'? I know ya liked it or ya wouldn'ta become my pet. But the thing is, I knew ya'd like it before we even started. I got this book, see? It's called _The Master's Way with the Opposite Gender_ an' it's basically about how ta be really good at havin' sex. Well, they got all sorts a' stuff in there, like pressure points, an' incense, an' teas, an' other stuff ta get a woman 'in the mood,' an' stuff. Well, one of the teas they had in there, if ya used it with the right pressure point, can get a girl ta say all kinds of stuff, like who they're attracted to, an' what their fantasies are…" Ranma's voice trailed off.

"And you used one on me, and that's how you found out I was a submissive, right?"

"Yeah. That's also how I came up with the animal girl pet thing."

Nabiki heaved a sigh of relief. It hadn't been something she didn't know about. She didn't know how she would have reacted if she hadn't found the book herself, but that was moot. She'd already decided to forgive him, and she would stick by that decision. After a second or two, she took the collar and put it back on.

To say Ranma was surprised would be like saying the Kunos were eccentric (that is to say, it would been a vast understatement). "Na-Nabiki?!"

"Master, I know you feel guilty about what you did, and to be honest, it probably _was_ criminal to invade my privacy that way. But as I've said before, I've made it my business to know you. Can you honestly say that you would have acted the way you did if you were just taking advantage of my fantasies?"

"Uh… maybe…"

"No, Master, your honor code would never let you do that. You did it primarily for me. In fact, I'm willing to bet you never even realized that you _were_ dominant until that day. Am I right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"As I thought. Master, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat angry about this, but I know that you would never do something like this if you were concerned only with yourself."

"So yer gonna forgive me?"

"Would I have put the collar back on if I wasn't?"

Ranma simply stood there silently, with his mouth hanging open.

 _Guess I'd better change the subject to something more interesting._ "Now, if you wouldn't mind, Master, I'd like to take my punishment now, please." _That should cheer him up._

"Me?! Punish you?! What for?"

 _Or not._ "I touched myself while bathing last night without your permission, which violates rule three. Therefore, I must be punished." _C'mon, Master, I_ know _you've been looking forward to whatever this punishment is._

"But… after what I did…"

"I forgave you for that."

"But…"

Nabiki sighed again. She should have known that her owner would make his personal code of honor an integral part of his sex life—that was why she was able to put so much trust in him, after all. It looked like she'd have to come clean as well. "Actually, Master, there's something I need to confess to you." She didn't bother to kneel or avoid looking her owner in the face because she knew he wouldn't take her seriously if she did. As it was, she had his attention, so she continued.

"The reason I was able to forgive you so quickly was because I already knew about your book. I was curious as to how you seemed to know so many details to one of my favorite fantasies about you, so I snooped around in your things to try and figure it out, and I found it. I didn't read it all, but I read enough of the 'information gathering' section to figure out what you'd done. I was mad, but as I explained, I'd already decided to forgive you."

"Uh, thanks for tellin' me, Nabiki, but that don't really compare with what I did."

"Master, I'm not finished yet. I would have told you what I'd found right then, but instead I wanted you to stew around feeling guilty for a while. I was going to tell you before I offered to be your pet, but since you didn't seem to be feeling 'guilty' enough, I put it off. Basically, I've been trying to manipulate your emotions for my own entertainment, which is just as bad as you taking advantage of my fantasies. And… I'm sorry, Master. Will you forgive me?"

Ranma took a moment to realize his pet was waiting for his answer. "Uh… sure Nabiki. I mean, how can't I?"

"So, now that we've taken care of misdeeds done _before_ we made our contract, we can turn to what really matters… like rule violations, right?" _**Please**_ _don't let him have any more hang-ups. Please please PLEASE._

Ranma started to regain his trademark confidence. _She's really O.K. with this. She's forgiven me. I don't have ta worry about disappointing her. Hmm… This thing might actually work out._ He turned to his pet with a smirk and announced her fate for the next few hours—or at least until he decided to make her an animal girl again.

"Well, ya did violate a rule, and since ya know about the book, I guess I can tell ya exactly how yer gonna get punished. There's this pressure point on yer back called the Denial Point. Basically, ya can get excited an' stuff like normal, but ya don't get ta actually finish, ya know?"

Nabiki nodded. "I think I understand, Master."

Her owner continued explaining the effects of the Denial Point on both the male and female bodies (conveniently neglecting to tell her what happened when the point was reversed).

 _Well, that explains how he can keep it up for so long._ Her Master had been a little crude in his description (she resolved to teach her owner to describe an orgasm without using the word "cum") but the very concept behind the Denial Point was beginning to arouse her—though not as much as it did him, if the bulge in her owner's pants was any indication. _Enough theory. Time to move into foreplay._ "Master, I will accept my punishment."

To her surprise, Ranma replied with a smile—not a smirk, but a genuine, warm smile. "Thank you, Nabiki."

His embrace was nothing like the clumsy hug that had happened the previous night. He rubbed his hands all over her back, exploring every part he could find from shoulder to small, with an occasional expedition to caress one of her buttocks. Meanwhile, his lips were lightly kissing their way across her left shoulder, up the side of her neck, and stopping briefly to nibble on her ear before moving to her mouth.

Nabiki was amazed at what her owner could do to her, the way he could make her feel so aroused in such a short time. If this was how a genuine embrace felt, what would it be like while in the she was in the throes of the Denial Point? His kiss was gentle, and he took his time with it, so much so that his pet became impatient and plunged her tongue into his mouth before he even had a chance to do likewise. Nabiki reveled in all the motion that she was feeling on her skin and in her mouth for several seconds, when suddenly she felt a sharp pressure between her shoulder blades. When her owner leaned out of his kiss, he had his smirk back on again. "This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Nabiki took a page from her older sister's book. "Oh my."

Ranma had a minor conundrum to deal with. What was the best way to get Nabiki up to his room? Sure, he could just _tell_ her to go there, but he was sure there was a much more erotic method than _that_. He couldn't use the leash—he'd left it in the dojo, and besides, that would probably just confuse her, since she was fully human at the moment. In the end, he decided to go with what he knew, and he once again got behind his pet, leading her up to his room as he groped and fondled her, without any annoying distractions (like clothing) to get in his way.

He sat her down on his futon, and removed his own clothing and then, he once again sat behind her. Softly, he spoke into her ear, saying, "Alright, we're gonna do this just like last time, only now ya don't hafta hold nuthin' back." And with that, Ranma set to work on his pet. He didn't hit any sensitivity points, as he wasn't sure how they would be affected by the Denial Point, and he didn't want his pet to pass out on him—at least not yet. So instead, he began to knead the globes on her chest with one hand, occasionally rubbing and twisting her by-now hardened nipples, while his other hand worked on her lower lips, teasing as much lubrication from them as possible.

Since she didn't have to worry about restraining her emotions, Nabiki was able enjoy her Master's ministrations much more thoroughly this time, and more importantly, she was able to communicate that enjoyment through her moans of delight. It seemed that every time she thought that Ranma had reached the pinnacle of his ability to take possession of her, he would find a way to assert his ownership in an even more consuming way. Yesterday he'd made it known that she was his whether or not he was treating her like a pet, and last night he'd attempted to assert that his dominance was in effect regardless of his form (and in the back of her mind, Nabiki knew that eventually her owner would indeed assert "her" ownership of her as Ranma-chan, though she couldn't say when that would happen).

But now, her Master was showing that not only could he possess her, he could even control the way her body functioned. By the simple application of a pressure point, he could prevent her from climaxing, not only taking her to the edge, but holding her out past it and refusing to let her go. As her owners handiwork took her closer to the point where she would normally orgasm, her thoughts became more fragmented, held together only by the vague notion that she belonged to him, and that he could not only use her, he could _control_ her in a more literal sense then she ever imagined possible.

All of these thoughts were briefly dispersed as the bulge of his manhood pressed into the small of her back—she had forgotten that 'little Ranma' was fully functional this time around. The heat she felt as her owner's shaft became more solid triggered various ideas in her mind, and as she found herself reacting to the unusual idea of her owner shooting his seed across her lower back, she let forth a shudder.

Ranma was a little surprised when he felt his pet's reaction. His current ministrations weren't _that_ intense—this was supposed to be just a warm-up while he decided exactly what he would do with her. Now that he was starting to get hard, he was debating whether or not to eat her out or to just enter her directly. He decided on the former—it would make sure that she'd had enough stimulation to make the release interesting.

His pet looked momentarily confused as he laid her down on the futon, but his smile remedied that problem—she hadn't done anything wrong, he was just changing positions. Nabiki dutifully spread her legs as her Master moved his head toward her snatch, and he began to pleasure/torture her with his tongue, using every trick he could recall from the extensive chapter on cunnilingus in his book.

Nabiki's moans grew even louder as her Master ate her pussy, using his fingers to supplement the actions of his tongue. He used just the right amount of friction and the right amount of pressure in all of the right places to send her brain into overdrive. She was rapidly moving to the point where she would normally orgasm, and out of habit, her body did its best to stave it off as long as possible. But, as usual, eventually she had to give up, and so she let go… but instead of fulfillment, the sensations merely kept building inside her, refusing to release her from her agony. Her already heavy breathing became even more pronounced, and her limbs started to pound against the futon, in a useless attempt to make her body work the way it was supposed to. Her moans increased in volume as her Master continued, and she had difficulty trying to decide whether she was in heaven or hell… or both.

Since it had become rather obvious that Nabiki had exceeded the point where she would have normally achieved release (and because his cock was so hard that it was starting to hurt) Ranma decided to move to phase 3 of his plan, which require vast amounts of self-control on his part, since he wasn't using the his own Denial Point. He crawled up until he could look his pet in her hazy and unfocused eyes, lightly kissing and licking her body the entire way. After a final, long kiss on her mouth, he moved his rod into position, and entered her soft, wet flower. For a while, he pumped her in the standard missionary position, but then he took a closer look at his pet. Nabiki's moans, as well as her face, clearly broadcast her feelings, which appeared to be composed of equal parts pleasure and anguish. For a moment, Ranma felt sorry for her, but then he remembered two things. First, this _was_ a punishment, so the anguish was to be expected. Second, the more his pet was able to endure, the greater her reward would be when he released her. With that in mind (and with a rather evil grin) he rolled over, allowing his pet to control the pace of their lovemaking so he could see how far she would go in her vain attempts to climax.

Nabiki wanted to go slowly, to make her Master's pleasure last as long as possible—she really did. However, as soon as he rolled them over so she was on top, effectively letting her take charge, she was unable to ignore the overpowering animalistic need to cum **right now.** Her moans turned into grunts as she started to move over the length of his shaft with increasing vigor. Ranma reached up with his hands, initially to play with his pet's undulating breasts, but that intention changed when Nabiki grabbed his forearms to support herself as she began slamming onto her owner as rapidly as she could, her mind by now oblivious to everything but the unattainable goal of her orgasm. As she continued, and the intensity of her sensations increased, tears of desperation started to form in her eyes, and she began to think that she would never find release.

Ranma held on as long as he could without the Denial Point, which was still rather impressive due to the amount of control his training gave him over his body. Still, he _was_ human, and the amount of friction Nabiki was applying to his member in her futile attempt at release were nearly unbearable. Eventually, he had to let go, and he released his seed into her. The warmth of her owner's semen inside of her somehow managed to get through to Nabiki's sex-fogged mind, and the vicarious pleasure she felt from satisfying her Master was enough to dull her neediness somewhat, though she continued to hump him for several minutes, eventually shifting slightly and grinding her sex along his pelvic bone when his shaft became too soft to provide her with stimulation. At this point, Ranma leaned up and embraced his pet, whispering soothing praise into her ear as they both lay on the futon.

It took Nabiki a while to come down to a manageable level. Her owner simply cuddled her, whispering encouragement in her ear.

"Good girl. That was wonderful. I knew ya could do it. Just take deep breaths, an' pretty soon you'll be fine again."

She followed her Master's instructions, and soon she felt much more at ease. She was still incredibly horny, but her need to orgasm no longer felt like an overpowering urge that threatened her sanity. Odd as it was, though she didn't feel satisfied at all, she did feel a sense of contentment; she had made it through her punishment, and her owner was obviously happy with her performance, as his praise continued to be whispered into her ear. She would have no problem with her owner continuing to use the Denial Point as a punishment—the mix of mild to moderate enjoyment and agonizing frustration that it gave her made it perfect for that purpose, and Ranma had obviously enjoyed watching her react to the sensations—but she wouldn't want to incorporate it into their regular activities. She idly wondered when she would be released from the point when her Master suddenly loosened his grip and, while still lying on the floor, raised his voice to a more conversational volume.

"Okay, that was great, Nabiki. Now for part 2 of yer lesson on the Denial Point."

 _Lesson? What does he mean by that?_ "Is my punishment to continue, Master?"

"Nope. In fact, this part's yer reward for bein' such a good pet."

Nabiki wasn't sure what he meant, but she assumed that she was about to get the release her body so desperately craved. (Boy, was she ever right.)

Ranma continued in the most professorial tone he could manage. "As interestin' as the Denial Point is when it's turned on, it ain't nuthin' compared ta when it's turned off."

 _Well,_ _ **duh**_ _._ Nabiki tried not to sound patronizing in her response. She failed. "You mean that being able to have orgasms is better than not being able to have them?"

Ranma bristled a bit, then regained his composure. "Well, I _was_ gonna explain what I meant, but since I didn't like that tone, I'm gonna just let ya find out for yerself." Nabiki started getting nervous—either something very bad or very good was about to happen to her, and thanks to her snarkiness, it was going to be a _surprise_ , and she was quickly developing a love/hate relationship with surprises. Her Master's grin looked almost malicious as he suddenly embraced her tightly and reversed her Denial Point.

Under most circumstances, unless her Master ordered her to be silent, Nabiki was a moaner, not a screamer. She was never really one to raise her voice to high levels to begin with, and to actually _try_ to artificially make one's voice louder during sexual activities seemed to her an utterly ridiculous notion. That said, having three or four of the most powerful orgasms of her life continuously over a period of 20 seconds is definitely _not_ "most circumstances." As such, Nabiki was shrieking at the top of her lungs (much to the displeasure of her Master's eardrums).

Words really can't do justice to her experience. It was as though she had a massive amount of pressure inside her, which was suddenly afforded an avenue of escape—kind of like going to the bathroom after you've held it in for a while, only much more euphoric. The orgasm seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, and Nabiki wasn't entirely sure she could take it. Nabiki gripped her owner tightly in an effort to keep from passing out as every single part of her body flooded her brain with messages that amounted to "GOOD—GOOD—GOOD—GOOD—GOOD—VERY GOOD—GOOD—GOOD—GOOD—GOOD." She had never screamed so loudly in her life; she would probably be hoarse for the next few days. This thought didn't enter her mind at the time, but then, there wasn't a lot of room in her mind.

It didn't help that Ranma had inserted two of his fingers into her womanhood. He didn't bother moving them around—it was rather obvious that at the moment, the most microscopic twitches were sending out even more shocks to the overworked pleasure centers of his pet's brain. To stifle her screams (and prevent hearing loss) he moved his other hand behind her head and pushed her mouth towards his, giving her the deepest kiss he could. Of course, given her state of mind, _that_ just further increased her ecstasy.

Eventually, Nabiki's mega-climax subsided, leaving her feeling utterly drained. Her Master's hand was covered in her juices (with a little bit of his semen mixed in). Reflexively, he brought his hand to his pet's mouth for cleaning, and to her credit, Nabiki managed to finish three fingers before she fell asleep. Ranma smiled and caressed her cheek with his clean hand before leaving the room to clean up and prepare for their next round of lovemaking.

As he finished washing his hands, Ranma noticed the clock in the kitchen—it was 11:00, and with the exception of Kasumi's brief check-in to drop off the things she'd bought at three or so, he and his pet would be alone until 1 AM. He decided to let Nabiki sleep for an hour or two—she'd need as much energy as possible for the remaining twelve hours.

Ukyo tried to concentrate on her classes, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. _There's something screwy going on here. Why on earth would Kasumi be so insistent that I leave Ranchan alone? She practically accused me of having Konatsu spy on him! I never do that… Well, maybe once or twice, but I_ _ **always**_ _have a good reason! I know this Napoleon influenza or whatever is supposed to be contagious, but if it's that bad, why would only Ranma and Nabiki have it?_ She had already revised her earlier opinion of the possibility of Ranma fooling around with Nabiki. That greedy bitch could easily manipulate the martial artist into sleeping with her. And given Nabiki's domineering personality, who _knew_ what she was making Ranma do for her?

Except Kasumi had said it was true. Kasumi, the most trustworthy person in Nerima. Kasumi, who'd never try to deceive anyone about anything, especially when it involves your fiancée. She might have _acted_ oblivious, but she would never let something like this upset the precarious _wa_ of the Tendo household. Besides, she'd read so many medical textbooks and had such a natural talent for nursing that Ukyo was inclined to accept Kasumi's explanation—on a tentative basis of course. She'd have to talk with Dr. Tofu about this after school, of course. Until then, Ukyo would have to trust Kasumi.

So why couldn't she?

Akane's behavior certainly did nothing to reassure her. Kuno barely had time to notice the absence of the foul demon Saotome before Akane had pummeled him into the ground. When the delusional kendoist had tried to block one of her punches, all he got for the effort was a broken bokken and a bruised kidney. Clearly, Akane was angry—more so than usual, since Hinako's first chi siphoning had kept her an adult well into the lunch period, a record for non-Ranma draining. Akane answered all inquiries on the nonappearance of her sister and her fiancée with a brusque "I don't want to talk about it!" Given what had transpired that morning, most of the student population didn't bother to ask twice.

Nabiki's lieutenants weren't any help either. They had no information concerning the condition of their boss—unusual, since said boss almost _always_ called ahead to alert them and give them orders when she couldn't come to school. Apparently, this was serious enough that Nabiki was temporarily unable to run her extremely lucrative information brokerage service. _Yeah, right. Nothing on this planet can get between Nabiki and the money of everyone she meets—especially Ranchan. I've got half a mind to head over there right now, and find out what her scheme is._

Only one thing kept Ukyo from following up on this train of thought—the possibility that it might not be an elaborate hoax. If she went to the Tendo compound and it turned out that Ranma and Nabiki really _did_ have some rare disease, then she'd become known as the one person who wouldn't trust Kasumi Tendo. _Kasumi Tendo_ , who was so virtuous that rumor had it the Catholic church was seriously considering her for canonization, even though she neither practiced Christianity, nor was she dead. If she showed unwarranted distrust of the Tendo matriarch, Ukyo would be the laughingstock of Nerima, and Ranma would never respect her again. Therefore, she'd just have to wait, but how could she be expected t—

"Miss Kuonji, are you paying attention?"

"Uh… well…"

"While I appreciate your effort, there is no need for you to increase the ignorance level in this class simply because Mr. Saotome is not present." Snickers from everyone in the class but Akane, who was still brooding over whatever it was that was bothering her.

"Gomen nasai, Tanaka-sensei," Ukyo blushingly apologized.

Mr. Tanaka frowned, and then turned to the rest of the class. "Can anyone _else_ answer the question?"

Ukyo tried to pay attention, but her thoughts again turned to Ranma and the idyllic life that he and she _should_ have been living by now. _Oh, Ranchan. I wonder what you're doing right now?_

One thing is certain—whatever the cross-dressing chef may have been thinking, it was definitely _not_ what Ranma was actually doing at the time.

Ranma carefully mixed up his pet's Jusenkyo cocktail. He didn't want too much animal in the mix—just enough to do interesting things to Nabiki's thought processes, as well as give her a few distinctive physical features, leaving the rest of her human. Obviously, this wasn't something he was planning on doing often—they had a limited supply of Instant Nyannichuan, and he wanted to save those for special occasions—like birthdays, anniversaries, and (in conjunction with some of the more esoteric animal curses) when Nabiki had been _really_ naughty.

But their honeymoon, naturally, was one of those "special" times—and he had a feeling they could have a lot of fun with this particular curse. Sure, it wouldn't be nearly as structured as their first time with Nabiki as a dog-girl, but then, he had put an awful lot of planning into that afternoon, whereas this time he decided to be more spontaneous. Having finished the mixing process, Ranma put some of the cursed water in a glass, and carefully bottled up the rest for later use. He glanced at the clock. 12:30—he'd have to wake Nabiki soon. He prepared and ate a light six-course lunch; his pet's meal would be served in a more interesting fashion.

While eating, Ranma thought about his situation. It was so nice to be able to consume a meal without any distractions—no pandas stealing his food, no wisecracks at his expense (though those had lessened considerably since the originator of the aforementioned wisecracks was currently his lover/pet), no godawful culinary monstrosities being forced upon him by his stubborn fiancée—

Wait, that wasn't right. Akane _wasn't_ his fiancée anymore; he'd married Nabiki. It's just that for so long in the Tendo household, it had been taken for granted that Ranma and Akane would eventually wed. Ranma hadn't given this a lot of thought recently; he'd been too distracted by his pet. Suddenly, however, he was remembering the way Akane had reacted, and it was puzzling. He'd thought that she would be relieved to be done with a pervert like him (and there was no use denying his perversion anymore), but she hadn't acted that way at all. She'd looked… hurt. Like something important had been taken away from her…

Ranma slapped his forehead when he realized what it was. _The school. Akane was worried about the school. After all, when ya work hard for somethin' and it looks like it's gonna be taken from ya, yer never in a good mood afterward._ It made perfect sense; perhaps he was finally getting better at understanding other people.

He hoped that things would work out for his sister-in-law, both in the Art as well as everyday life. She deserved it—while she could sometimes be a really irritating tomboy, she was basically a nice person, and she had showed time and again that she was capable of being a good friend. It was just that the niceness was overwhelmed by spurts of fury. He wasn't too concerned, however. Despite his insults, he had always considered her to be cute—especially when she smiled. It wasn't quite like Kasumi's smile, which was more motherly, nor was it like his pet's (but then, like her Master, Nabiki's genuine smiles were often indistinguishable from her smirks). Rather, when Akane smiled, he felt like she was letting him see her true self—someone who wouldn't get angry so consistently if it weren't for the stresses in her life. He wasn't sure how her smile made him feel, he'd once overheard someone use the phrase "warm and fuzzy," and that seemed close enough. He wasn't quite sure what these feelings _meant_ , but he was certain that Akane's smile would help her find someone. It was too bad, really. He sort of wished that those smiles would be for him…

 _What I am I thinking?! For cryin' out loud, Ranma, ya got Nabiki, don't ya? Why are ya spendin' so much time worryin' about Akane? It's not like she ever wanted ya ta begin with. Just finish yer lunch an' go wake up Nabiki. She'll get yer mind offa this._

Ranma looked at the collared girl lying on his futon. She looked so peaceful. It was a shame to disturb her, but he was horny. But how best to wake her up? _Well, I ain't had dessert yet…_ A smile came to his lips. Even though Akane attributed all manner of evil to sexual deviants, he had to admit, sometimes being perverted felt _good_.

Conveniently, Nabiki was already on her back, and it didn't take much effort for Ranma to part her legs so he could once again view her womanhood. For a minute he just gazed at her; for neither the first nor the last time he was struck by the beauty of his pet. He couldn't find a single imperfection on her… though he did wonder what she'd look like without the hair on her mound. Admittedly, it was neatly trimmed—a necessity for someone who wore bathing suits as skimpy as hers; but now he was seriously considering having her shave it completely—just to see if he'd like it. _Hmm. I'll have to keep that in mind for later._

For now, he had a pet to wake up. He wasn't sure how Nabiki would react to waking up with her Master's tongue in her pussy; but then that was one of the things he wanted to find out. But first things first, he needed to get her ready, so he began kissing and stroking her inner thighs and petals. It would take time before she was physically ready for him to do anything too intense. Under most circumstances, this wouldn't be much of a problem—Ranma had quickly discovered that his favorite part of having sex with his pet was watching his pet have sex with him. But right now his pet was asleep, and slow build-ups aren't nearly as fun when your partner isn't conscious to enjoy it. So he kept at it, slowly increasing the stimulation he provided, and waiting for her body to react physically, so he could move ahead. He didn't have to wait long.

Ranma smiled as his pet's petals began to open. He brought his tongue into play, licking the juices that her body was producing in response to his touch. His book had said that it took time to get used to the flavor of a woman, and he could see why. It wasn't that his pet tasted _bad_ , it was just that she tasted, well, _weird_. It was hard to describe, mainly because he couldn't really think of anything to compare her with. Of course, since Nabiki seemed to enjoy oral sex, he figured it would be best for him to acquire that taste as soon as possible. Therefore, he continued to sample her nectar, noting both its tang and aroma, and hoped that it wouldn't be long before these were no longer obstacles. He could hear her breathing getting more rapid, which he took as a good sign—it wouldn't be long before she woke up completely. He decided to take a risk, and tentatively applied some pressure to her unhooded nub. The response was a sharp intake of breath and a slight spasm—Nabiki would be fully conscious soon, so he decided to speed things up. The main course was still ahead, and it wouldn't to fill up on bread in the meantime.

As Nabiki woke from her slumber, she wondered if the aftershocks of her release from the Denial Point were still continuing, as she was still apparently getting messages of pleasure (though not nearly as pronounced) from her pussy. A quick glance downward corrected that opinion. "Master?! What are you doing?" As if it wasn't obvious.

Ranma merely paused and looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, not even bothering to move his mouth from her snatch. He then returned to his ministrations, but with more vigor.

But the businesslike aspects of Nabiki's mind demanded an explanation, no matter how unneeded that explanation was. "Master, is this really nec—" the other parts of Nabiki's mind cut that thought off with a moan, clearly wanting the Ice Queen to shut up before she spoiled the fun.

Ranma quickly brought his pet to climax; this wasn't supposed to be much more than a wake up call, anyway. He moved his body up and kissed Nabiki, both to show his affection, and so that she could clean his face. When that was out of the way, Nabiki once again spoke. "Not that I'm complaining, Master, but what the heck was _that_ about?"

"Ya were asleep. I wanted ya ta wake up. This seemed like the most interestin' way ta do it."

"That's it?"

"Do I need any more of a reason?"

"I guess not. You are the Master, after all."

"And don't you forget it."

Nabiki giggled at that. "I won't." She changed the subject. "So, what's next on the menu?"

"Lunch."

"Cute, Master. Very cute. I mean, what 'activities' do you have planned next?"

"Why don't you go clean yourself up a bit first."

"Alright." Nabiki was almost out the door when she heard her owner clearing his throat. She turned to see him staring at her with an expectant look on his face. _Now, what could he… oh. That._ "Master, may I touch myself while I clean up?"

"Of course ya can. Just don't do it any more than ya gotta, okay?"

"Certainly, Master."

"Oh, and Nabiki…"

"Yes?"

"Make sure ya go to the bathroom while yer at it. I don't want ta be interrupted this afternoon."

"Of course. Will there be anything else?"

"I don't think so. Meet me in the family room when yer done."

"Yes, Master."

Ranma waited for his pet, Jusenkyo cocktail in hand. Nabiki's lunch was on the table beside him; he had chosen it with the curse in mind. After a few minutes, she came into the room.

"Everything taken care of?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Then it's time for yer lunch—but first…"

Ranma took out the glass with the cursed water and splashed his pet. Again, Nabiki closed her eyes as she felt the change come over her. When she opened her eyes to look at her new body, she let out a small gasp in surprise.

Ranma once again was wearing his trademark smirk. "Let's eat."

Kasumi stared at the immaculately dressed mannequins in the window of one of the many clothiers in the shopping mall, but the image didn't really register. She had done a bit of shopping, as evidenced by the bags sitting next to her on the bench, and now she just wanted to sit down for a while. But even though she was deviating from her regular routine, she was still engaging in her favorite "boredom" pastime: daydreaming. She couldn't help it; the possibilities of what Ranma and Nabiki might have been doing that moment were just so… interesting.

She had a pretty good idea, though, of what was going on. Granted, her only experience with sex to this point had been her romance novels and soaps, but surely their experience couldn't have been much more extensive than that, right? Kasumi sighed as she envisioned a bare-chested, muscular, and pigtailed man kissing a beautiful, helmet-haired woman in a pose that just screamed "stereotypical." _I bet I know exactly how it'll happen. First, they'll be gazing longingly at each other, taking note of every detail…_

Nabiki was a bunnygirl. Simple as that. She had long, white, fuzzy ears coming out of her head, and a little tuft of a tail at the base of her spine. The tail wasn't like the puffball of cotton on a traditional "Playboy Bunny" outfit; it looked like a real rabbit's tail. The ears had amplified her sense of hearing, so much so that for a while she was wincing at the loudness of the sounds around her. She ran her tongue over her teeth and was relieved to find that her incisors were still their normal size. (She'd recently read a book about American propaganda in World War II, and she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of being an _actual_ bucktoothed Asian.) She idly wondered if the place where her human ears would normally be would look odd if she had a shorter haircut. Nabiki could feel her heart rate increasing slightly—apparently this change was going to give her more energy than she'd know what to do with.

Thankfully, she didn't have to know, since the task of figuring out what to do with all that energy fell to her Master. He was still fully clothed, but it was easy to see the beginnings of a bulge in his crotch area. Nabiki watched as her owner once again looked over his pet with the eye of an appraiser looking at a work of art. He circled the bunnygirl two or three times, taking in as many details as he could, from the way her furry tail blended perfectly into the smooth skin of her back—he even got up close to actually have a look at the place where her ears "should" have been. For perhaps the first time, Nabiki felt a bit envious at her owner's privileged position in their relationship. She desperately wanted to be satiated, but this time it had more to do with curiosity than sexuality.

…Kasumi didn't have to dwell for too long on the "details" part, but that didn't matter. Her brother-in-law and sister were active teenagers, after all, and curiosity would soon be sated. Ranma would then begin whispering sweet nothings in his beloved's ear…

"Yer looking nice. Real nice." Nabiki did her best to refrain from making remarks about her owner's eloquence, or rather, the complete lack thereof. Ranma continued his evaluation. "I wasn't sure how this was gonna turn out, but it looks like I got it right." This was definitely going to be fun. But, as his book stated (repeatedly), in relationships like these, communication was absolutely vital, simply for safety reasons, so he had to make sure that was possible. "Nabiki?"

Nabiki responded by silently looking at her Master. Ranma's rules for her behavior may have been completely improvised, but the Ice Queen aspect of her personality (which never _totally_ went away) insisted on following those rules to the letter, and Rule 2 stated that she was to forego human speech as an animal girl in favor of appropriate animal noises. Of course, rabbits didn't really have any distinctive vocal noises associated with them like the barking of a dog or the mewing of a cat. Thus, silence.

Seeing that he had her attention, Ranma continued. "Okay, now I know I got a rule that says yer not allowed ta talk when yer an animal girl, unless it's an emergency. But since I don't think rabbits make that much noise, I'm gonna be a bit more lenient on that this time. Ya know, ta be safe."

Nabiki nodded.

"Um, Nabiki, maybe I didn't make myself clear. I don't know what that water did ta ya exactly, so I need ta make sure ya can talk if ya gotta."

Again, Nabiki nodded, and she opened her mouth to let her Master know that she could communicate vocally if necessary. "Of course, Master." She blinked in surprise. Her voice didn't have the raspy quality of a whisper, yet it was just as quiet.

"What was that?" replied her Master, who apparently was expecting something louder as well.

"Master, I think my vocal chords are weaker as a bunnygirl. Right now, I'm speaking at what would normally be my regular volume."

Ranma frowned. He wanted to make sure Nabiki was capable of speaking to him, even if he didn't want her to actually do it. He decided that he'd just have to pay close attention to the noises coming from his bunnygirl—though they would probably be much, much quieter. "OK, ya can go back ta bein' quiet. We'll just hafta make sure we don't bang stuff around to much, or I'll never hear ya above it."

His pet nodded, glad that she didn't have to talk—that scream of hers when she was released from the denial point had done a number on her throat as well, and trying to talk at a "normal" level as a bunnygirl would probably make it much worse.

Kasumi sighed heavily at the wonderful and no doubt romantic things she was sure Ranma was saying to his wife right now. _Someday, I hope someone talks to me like that._

"Alright, now I believe yer supposed ta be on all fours, movin' like a rabbit would. Let's see it." His pet responded by crouching down and doing her best to imitate a rabbit. She took a few exploratory hops before her owner stopped her. "S'okay, I guess, but something seems wrong. Hop around a few more times."

Nabiki complied, wondering what she could be doing that wasn't up to her Master's expectations. _He can't really expect me to move_ _ **exactly**_ _like a rabbit, can he? My arms and legs are still human!_ She was getting a little frustrated, when her owner suddenly signaled her to stop.

"I got it. Ya got the position almost right, but yer legs are spread too far apart."

 _Now_ _ **that's**_ _something I never thought I'd hear him say._

Ranma, of course, didn't hear his pet's internal monologue, and continued. "Ya see, when yer crouched like that, ya got yer knees on the sides of yer breasts, and it makes ya look more like a frog than a rabbit. I want ya ta pull yer knees closer together." Again, Nabiki complied, moving her legs until they were parallel under her torso, with her knees pressing into her breasts.

"That's good. Now try hopping around again."

It took a little while before Nabiki figured out how to complete a hop without pinching her breasts uncomfortably, but once she got the hang of it, it became much easier. Soon, she was jumping around happily, enjoying the way the orbs on her chest felt as they bounced and swayed in response to her movements. _Master was right… this does feel more natural._ As her hopping about the Tendo home continued, Nabiki found it increasingly easy to ignore the Ice Queen (who was rarely welcome in her sex life), and to act more like a rabbit. Specifically a rabbit in heat, as she realized that her body was already starting to respond physically to the presence of her mate and owner, who watched her lovingly the entire time. Master's smile indicated that he was pleased with her performance, which (naturally) filled her with the wonderful sense of contentment she felt whenever she was able to please him. But idyllic scene was soon interrupted by an intrusive gurgle—the bunnygirl's tummy wanted food.

Kasumi walked into the food court… it was lunchtime, after all. Granted, the food one could get at a mall was nothing compared to food prepared in one's own kitchen, but that might be in use right now… _Oh my! Perhaps they're playing with food—closing their eyes and feeding each other… I wonder if we have any food suitable for that?_

Ranma smiled. Nabiki was truly starting to remind him of a rabbit now. He watched as his pet bounced around the room, becoming more energetic by the second. This was good; the reason he had chosen bunnygirl this time was that he had recently found out that when rabbits "multiplied," it sure as hell didn't involve math. This Nabiki would have energy to spare—but energy required food, and she hadn't exactly eaten a lot for breakfast.

He picked up the plate of lettuce and carrots and walked over her. It was time to feed his pet.

Kasumi picked up her purchase from a nearby udon stand and walked to a table. As she sat down and began to eat her meal, her thoughts returned to Nabiki and Ranma. _Now where was I—I mean, where were they? Oh yes… Ranma was feeding Nabiki…_

"Alright, Nabiki, I got yer lunch right here—some nice, juicy carrots."

Nabiki smiled as her Master held one of the long, orange vegetables out to her. She made to grab the carrot in his hand, but he pulled it back before she could reach it.

"Hold on a sec, Nabiki. I know yer hungry, but ya don't really think I'm just gonna give you a carrot for no reason do ya?"

The bunnygirl sighed and shook her head.

"Course not. Ya gotta show me that ya can be a good lil' bunny. Ya think ya can do that?"

Nabiki nodded enthusiastically.

"That's good, 'cause what I have in mind'll get ya an extra reward for when ya behave."

Nabiki was a little confused, but she shrugged it off. Extra rewards for extra good behavior sounded fine to her. She hopped over when she noticed her Master beckoning her toward him.

Ranma stroked the skin on his bunnygirl's back several times, again simply admiring her beauty, and taking a few seconds to appreciate the fact that she had given all of that beauty to _him_ for his personal use. He felt like he could have done that for hours, but owning a pet was a big responsibility, and one of those responsibilities was to feed that pet. He broke off the tip of the carrot and set it before Nabiki. "Go on, eat it up."

Needing no further encouragement, the bunnygirl greedily devoured the tiny carrot nib. She was sure that her Master had something else planned, but she wasn't sure what.

"Well, did ya like it?"

Nabiki nodded her head. Of _course_ she liked it—her Master had given it to her. He smiled at her and slowly moved his hand towards her lower lips. Nabiki shuddered as her owner began to lightly caress and stimulate the folds of her womanhood, which were already wet due to her bunnygirl physiology and the proximity of her mate.

Ranma took the time to activate a few sensitivity points to ensure his pet would be well lubricated before continuing. "Well, if ya think they're good plain, Wait 'til ya try 'em marinated." He picked up the carrot and carefully slid it inside of his pet, causing her to gasp audibly.

As one hand slid and twisted the vegetable inside of his pet, the other reached underneath her and started kneading and massaging the orbs dangling beneath her. He worked relatively quickly, as this was just foreplay—right now, he only needed relatively minor orgasms from his pet for him to build on later.

Of course, to Nabiki, these weren't "minor" at all. Sure, she was able to remain silent, but that was only because of her weakened vocal chords. As her Master continued manipulating the carrot, and squeezing her breasts, the bunnygirl's breath began to hiss through her clenched teeth. Ranma increased the intensity of his ministrations until Nabiki suddenly clamped down on the orange vegetable inside of her, enveloping it in her body's warm fluids.

Ranma smiled as her removed the carrot, now covered in his pet's juices. "Here ya go, Nabiki." He held it in front of her mouth and fed the cum-soaked vegetable to his pet one bite at a time. He then took some of the lettuce, wiped off the stray cum around her mouth, and gave that to her as well.

When she was finished, Nabiki looked up at her owner, who had a twinkle in his eye. "One down, two ta go," he said, motioning toward the plate, where two more carrots lay. Nabiki went wide eyed when she realize that both carrots were thicker than the one she had just "marinated" and eaten.

Ranma just smiled as he picked up the second carrot…

Kasumi paused as she finished her udon. What would those two do next? She wasn't sure what would happen next; her soaps and novels would usually fade to black around this point, and though she was perfectly aware of what was physiologically involved in vaginal intercourse, when she tried to imagine it always looked so… unromantic. _They have to be doing more than "in, out, repeat if necessary," but what?_ Kasumi bit her lip, and then it occurred to her. They were still fully clothed! _Well, feeding each other should certainly have gotten them excited, so no doubt the two of them are embracing passionately, fiercely kissing as they frantically try to remove their restrictive garments…_

"Aww, crud. I knew I shoulda worn a sleeveless tang ta do this." The sleeve on Ranma's Chinese shirt had unrolled as his bunnygirl "marinated" the final carrot, much to his consternation. He set the stick vegetable back on the plate and placed it in front of his pet. "Ya don't need me ta feed this last one ta ya, right Nabiki?" When the bunnygirl shook her head, Ranma stood up and walked to the laundry room, where he disrobed and put his dirty clothing in the hamper.

He looked in the mirror. "Well, that oughta be enough foreplay. Time for the good stuff!" he said to his reflection with a smirk. Little Ranma was almost ready to go, and no doubt Nabiki was done with her carrot and waiting for him to return.

Kasumi smile grew more mischievous. _Much better. Now, since they're both new at this, no doubt they'll start out gently. Nabiki will probably be a bit shy at first…_

When Nabiki's Master returned to her sans clothing, the bunnygirl was positively overjoyed; she bounded over to the pigtailed teenager, clearly showing off her assets in an effort to convince him of her readiness.

It was certainly effective. "Well, looks like yer ready ta go. You look like ya got a lot of energy ta burn off. Am I right?"

Nabiki responded with an enthusiastic nod.

"Well, I wouldn't be much of a responsible owner if I didn't make sure ya got yer exercise. What say we start with a little dessert?"

Nabiki looked confused at first, but comprehension dawned on her face when her Master motioned toward his swelling member.

Ranma smiled and knelt down to make it easier for his pet to service him. Nabiki eagerly bounced into position and impatiently took her owner's shaft into her mouth—perhaps a bit _too_ impatiently.

"Ow!" shouted Ranma as his pet grazed the tip of his cock with her teeth. "Watch it, Nabiki! I think yer teeth are sharper like this. Just take yer time."

 _But I don't_ _ **wanna**_ _take my time—I want you to fuck me_ _ **now**_ _!_ Admittedly, those were not exactly appropriate thoughts for a submissive, but then, nearly all of the energy the bunnygirl form gave Nabiki came in the form of horniness. Still, she didn't want an unhappy Master (because an unhappy Master would almost certainly _not_ fuck her), so she reluctantly slowed down, slowly taking the shaft into her mouth, caressing it with her tongue as her hands softly massaged her owner's testes.

As she began to slide up and down the length of his rod, Ranma put one of his hands behind her head to help guide her. The other hand began stroking one of his bet's long, white bunny ears, exploring every inch of its surface from base to tip.

Nabiki tried her best to concentrate on pleasing her Master, but that wasn't exactly easy considering that Ranma's idle caresses of her ear were producing sensations that no one in history had ever felt before. It was odd; _he_ was the one who was in control, yet it was _she_ who always ended up feeling privileged by their relationship. Resolving to show her owner her appreciation, she redoubled her efforts to give him the oral pleasure he desired.

 _Is it just me, or is this mall getting warmer?_ Kasumi was a little unnerved as her body started to respond to her imagination. Usually, she'd have diverted her attention by now—continuing just felt creepy in a voyeuristic way, even if she wasn't actually spying on the couple. Her fantasies were getting a bit more intense…

Ranma was loving every second of his pet's ministrations, but he knew he'd have to stop—he didn't have his Denial Point activated, and if he came in Nabiki's mouth, he'd have to start the process of arousal all over again. He grabbed his pet's head and slowly dislodged her from is erection.

"That was good, Nabiki, but I think I'd like ta, ya know, 'take' ya right now."

The bunnygirl nodded and turned so she faced away from her Master, presenting her sex for him as she did so. Ranma wasted no time entering his pet, eager to once again feel her tightness around his shaft. The two of them began moving back and forth in synchronization, and soon, Nabiki's moans were almost loud enough to for a normal human hearing range.

Ranma, however, was a bit perturbed. Sure, he was asserting his ownership of Nabiki, and that always felt nice, but something felt… off. For a while he continued to pump into her, unsure of where his uneasiness was coming from, until he figured it out: her tail. Nabiki's puffy rabbit tail was ticking his stomach with every thrust, and that seemed to be decreasing his pleasure (he wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't had this problem with Nabiki's dog-girl form, but he figured that it was because a dog-girl's fur was somehow different from a bunnygirl's). Luckily, there was a simple solution.

"Nabiki? I know ya like it when I take ya from behind when yer an animal, but I think I wanna be facing ya for this."

The bunny girl obediently complied, twisting her body around her owner's shaft (and reveling in the sensations it caused) until they were once again facing each other. Ranma sat down on the floor and moved Nabiki's legs behind him. Once she understood, she wrapped her legs around the small of his back and began to move over the length of her Master's manhood.

Kasumi was certain of one thing. The two of them would come together—it was the most romantic way to climax.

Ranma knew his bunnygirl was about to orgasm—her moans were within a normal hearing range, which meant that a human Nabiki would have been loud enough to wake the dead. It was time. "Hold on just a little longer, okay, Nabiki?"

The bunnygirl nodded as she bounced on her Master's manhood.

Ranma knew he'd have to get the timing just right for this to work… "Okay, now!" He hugged his pet closely, squishing her breasts against his torso as he plunged inside of her as far as he could, releasing his seed while his face contorted and his muscles twitched with his orgasm. Nabiki, for her part, understood exactly what her master meant as soon as she felt his fluid rush into her, and the bunnygirl responded in kind, pressing down on her master in an effort to collect every drop of sperm from him as went through her own set of spasms. What was left of her intellect completely melted away, leaving nothing but raw emotion. She leaned forward and kissed her Master's lips.

Kasumi emerged from the stall with a barely noticeable flush on her face. She didn't masturbate very often, and never outside of the privacy of her room, but this was clearly a special case. Fortunately, the restroom had been empty, and she had managed to keep quiet enough to avoid attracting attention. _Well,_ _ **that**_ _was interesting._ It disturbed her a little that her sister had had such a prominent position in her fantasy, but now that it was finished, she wasn't too concerned. The "Nabiki" in her mind was really just a version of herself with her sister's distinctive haircut. As for the "Ranma"… well, to be honest, she'd had fantasies about the real Ranma since the first time she'd seen him working out without a shirt. Kasumi sighed. It wouldn't do to fantasize extensively about her brother-in-law, as that could invite temptation. _So, who should I think about now? Hmm… Dr. Tofu's certainly good-looking…_

Once Nabiki returned to her human form, she looked at her owner expectantly. "So, Master, what are we doing next?"

Ranma glanced at the clock on the wall before answering. "Well, I don't wanna start another lovemakin' session just yet, 'cause Kasumi's gonna be comin' back ta check on us pretty soon, an' I really don't want her interruptin' anything."

Nabiki nodded. _Kasumi probably doesn't want to interrupt anything either._ "So what are we doing do until then?"

"I dunno. I guess we could watch a movie or somethin', unless you've got some ideas."

"I think I might."

"Well, don't just leave me hangin', tell me!"

"Master, I think we should talk."

"Talk? About what?"

"About a lot of things. Master, I think there's a few things we should clear up before we go any farther—if we don't talk about them now, in all likelihood they'll never come up. Do you understand me?"

"I guess. So what were you wonderin' about?"

"Well, first of all, I'd like to address your rules, specifically rule four."

"The housebroken one?"

"Yes. It's rather obvious that you, as you so eloquently put it, 'ain't inta that shit,' so why are you so concerned with how I do that?"

Ranma looked away for a second before answering his pet. "Well, when I was usin' that technique on ya, I just noticed that a lotta yer fantasies had ta do with that stuff. Ya know, like takin' ya for a walk an' makin' ya use a tree, or gettin' ya a litterbox an' makin' ya use that instead of the normal bathroom—stuff like that. Basically, it seemed like ya really wanted ta give me control over that." Nabiki started blushing—in hindsight, it seemed obvious that the original technique would be the explanation, but she'd never imagined it would be so _thorough_. Her Master continued, "But like I said, I ain't really interested in watchin' ya do it—in fact, it kinda makes me wanna hurl. So figured that this way, ya could still let me have control, but I'd get ta keep my lunch down."

Nabiki stared at her owner in what only could be described as admiration. He could have just totally ignored this interest of hers (which he didn't share) but instead he went out of his way to find an acceptable compromise. When she thought about it, rule four was amazing that way. It acknowledged her kink (though she agreed with her Master that scat was just plain disgusting, she was still a bit intrigued by watersports), and it did give him some control over it—but it also firmly stated that it would not be tolerated in his presence. If Master had indeed come up with that on the fly—well, it was just further testament to Ranma's well-documented ability to think fast under pressure. She had fantasized about belonging to Ranma plenty of times, sure, but she never imagined he would be such a considerate owner.

"Uh, Nabiki? Are ya okay?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Master. Thank you for explaining that to me."

"No problem. Anythin' else?"

"Well, I was also wondering why you wanted to know if I'd be comfortable being ordered to have sex with someone else. Do you plan on sharing me? Not that I'd mind, if it was under your order, but—"

"Wh-what?! No! Yer mine, and I ain't lettin' anyone else have ya."

"Really?"

"Really. No matter how nicely they asked."

"But what if you ordered that person to?"

Ranma's eyes bugged out. "Nabiki… what are you saying?"

"I'm asking if you were planning on getting _more_ pets."

"Ya mean… like a— a— whaddya call those ladies with the see-thru pants again?"

"A harem?"

"Yeah. Yer askin' if I want a harem?" At his pet's nod, Ranma out his hand to his temple. "Nabiki, I'm not sure I could handle more than you…"

"Forget about logistics for a moment. I'm not asking if you think you _can_ , or if you've got someone _specific_ in mind, I just want to know if that idea interests you."

Ranma's hand started to massage his temple as he formulated his answer. "To be honest… yeah, it does interest me, but I really don't think I'd be able ta pull it off. Besides, I just got you. Ain't it a little early to worry 'bout spicin' things up?"

"Master, I was just curious. Obviously, any decisions in this matter are yours to make. I just wanted to get this out of the way now, in case it ever comes up in the future."

"It's just that the thought of owning somebody _else_ is just so overwhelming…"

"Well, don't worry about it."

"Alright, anything else?"

"Actually, there is something—or rather, some _one_ we need to talk about."

"Who?"

"Akane."

Ranma frowned. "What about that tomboy?"

"How do you feel about her?"

"What does it matter?" snapped Ranma. "I'm married ta you."

"But you have feelings for her."

"What—No I—yer outta yer mind!" spluttered the martial artist.

"Really? Then why do you always try to protect her?"

"It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak."

"Weak? Master, _I'm_ weak. My sister, on the other hand is not."

"But she keeps getting kidnapped…"

"By people who are at _your_ level. Against an average martial artist—in fact, against most expert martial artists, she wins easily. Being the worst fighter in the Nerima Wrecking Crew is like being the worst song by the Beatles. It's still better than 99% of everything else. And yet you continue to try and help her, even when she's got things under control. Why?"

"I—I dunno."

"Is it that you don't know, or that you don't want to admit you know."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"No, Master, we can't talk about this later, because you'll dodge the question again. And if we _don't_ take care of this now, we'll probably get burned later on."

"So what do you want me ta say?"

"Just tell me—are you in love with my sister?"

"I— I'm not sure. Maybe. I'm not really sure what bein' in love is. I thought I might be in love with her, but then, well, _you_ happened. And all of a sudden, it seems like I'm startin' ta feel the same way about you that did about her—that I still feel about her." Ranma slumped down, putting his head in his hands. "It's just so confusin'—I don't know if I'm in love or if I'm just bein' a pervert or if it's really somethin' else that I ain't never heard of."

Nabiki walked over to her owner. "Master…"

"I just— it's just so much easier ta just pretend that there ain't nuthin' there, ya know? I mean, I figured that if anything ever happened, then she wouldn't feel so bad—if she felt that way at all…" Ranma noticed his pet's arms encircling him. After a few seconds, he returned the hug.

"Master, it's all right if you're confused. You don't need to figure everything out at once—because it won't work. Believe me, I've tried. But you _do_ need to figure this out eventually. You can't run away from it."

Ranma didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he just stood there, holding on to his pet.

Owner and pet were still embracing when the phone rang. "Should I get it, Master?"

Ranma nodded in response and watched Nabiki sashay over to the phone.

"Moshi moshi."

"Nabiki? It's me, Kasumi."

"Oh, hi, Kasumi. What's up?"

"Well, I've done quite a bit of shopping, and I wanted to drop my things off before I meet up with Akane, but I thought it would be best to call ahead and make sure you weren't… busy."

"Uh, no. We aren't 'busy' at the moment." Nabiki looked over to her owner, knowing that he could change that at any moment, but Ranma didn't look like he was going to do anything.

"Well, I'm on a pay phone about fifteen minutes away. I won't be disturbing you if I come in, will I?"

"In fifteen minutes?" Nabiki again looked at her Master for confirmation. When he quickly nodded, she answered her sister. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"Good." There was a brief pause before Kasumi began again. "Um, Nabiki, I know this might seem odd, and I really don't want to intrude, but would I be able to use the furo while I'm there? I promise not to take long."

"You want to use the furo?" Nabiki repeated, more so that Ranma could hear than from any lack of understanding on that part. Her owner nodded and wave his hand dismissively.

Kasumi, of course, couldn't see this, and answered her sister's question. "Yes, if it's not too much trouble."

"Uh, no, I don't think so—as long as you don't take too long, that is."

"Alright. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Bye."

"See you soon." Nabiki hung up the receiver and turned back to her spouse. "Kasumi is—"

"Comin' over in fifteen minutes an' she wants ta use the furo for some reason," finished Ranma. "I ain't _completely_ dense, ya know."

"Of course. So, I guess I should head upstairs, right?"

"Why?"

"To change into some clothes—you don't want Kasumi to see me naked, do you?"

"'Course not. But what does that hafta do with you wearin' clothes?"

"Uh…" _He's not going to…_

"Rule five says that clothes and the collar don't go together without my permission, and I ain't gonna give permission."

 _He is._ "But, how will I keep Kasumi from seeing me naked?"

"I'm sure you'll come up with somethin'—and by the way, ya ain't just gonna stay in yer room the whole time—and of course, yer not gonna tell her about our owner-pet thing if ya screw up."

"But…"

"Hey, don't worry 'bout it. Yer a real inventive girl—I like that about ya, and I ain't about ta let ya get rusty. But ya better come up with a plan that I like quick—ya only got fifteen minutes."

Akane was, to put it mildly, confused. She had no idea how she felt about last night's events; she felt _something_ , but she couldn't quite describe what it was. It wasn't anger—though there was quite a bit frustration when her father implied that he would name Nabiki as his heir. She'd gotten him to hold off on that, implying that there were still ways to join the schools even if the heirs weren't married. Nor was it a feeling of relief to learn that she would no longer be pressured into a marriage before she was ready. She didn't feel betrayed by her sister and brother-in-law for some reason, possibly because from her observations of the two it appeared that their relationship was genuine.

This was not what Akane would have expected; until last night, she'd thought there was a definite possibility that she was in love with Ranma, but if that was the case, then why didn't she feel any resentment towards the newlyweds or loss over the abandoned relationship between Ranma and her? She did know that she had some sexual attraction for Ranma (at least his male form), and that was something that had always scared her—it made her feel like the perverts who used to come after her every morning when she had fantasies about her then-fiancé. She also knew that she _liked_ the baka, at least a little—more than a little, actually. In fact, she'd always believed that they could have easily become very close friends were it not for the intense strangeness that surrounded their original meeting, and the fact that they actually _were_ pretty good friends was quite remarkable.

But _liking_ someone and _loving_ someone are two entirely different, though related, concepts—even if their fathers couldn't seem to recognize the difference. Maybe if they hadn't been constantly interfering, she and Ranma _could_ have fallen in love. But that was in the past—Ranma was Nabiki's husband now, and Akane, well, she didn't know what to think.

 _I just wish I knew how I felt about this._ It was a line she had been repeating to herself all throughout the surprisingly uneventful day at Furinkan. She was so fixated on this, that she hadn't really paid much attention to anything that day. Her classmates seemed to be interpreting her withdrawn state as one of her "powder keg" moods and mostly left her alone. This was fine with her—she wanted to at least _try_ figuring things out on her own before she asked for help. That was why she'd brushed off Kasumi's attempts to talk to her last night; she'd gotten her eldest sister to agree to a "girls' night out" instead.

So far, she had decided that she was honestly happy for Ranma and Nabiki—if they were really in love, that is. Sure, she still had a few problems to work out with them, and she knew that that would most likely not be easy, but she was confident that she could be reasonable—especially if Kasumi was present as a moderator.

 _Speaking of Kasumi… I hope I don't have to spend too much time waiting for her after school—I_ _ **really**_ _don't want to talk about this with anyone else right now._

Ranma opened the door of the Tendo home to find Kasumi with several bags of purchases. "Hey Kasumi, let me take those up ta yer room for ya."

"Thank you, Ranma. How's your day been?"

"Pretty good, so far."

"That's nice. Is Nabiki around."

Ranma turned his head so that his sister-in-law couldn't see his smirk. "Oh, I think she's around her somewhere…"

Nabiki let the warm water in the furo relax her muscles as she tried to figure out how she would handle this. Her owner hadn't given her a lot of time to come up with a plan for dealing with Kasumi—and in that brief time, the only idea that came to her was to be in the furo along with her sister. Ranma had, thankfully, approved the plan, but it came with its own set of problems. While this certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd be having a bath with Kasumi, it _would_ be the first time that Nabiki would be wearing a strip of black leather around her neck while the two were bathing together—and Nabiki doubted that Kasumi would go the whole time without commenting on it.

She was still trying to figure out how to respond when she heard the door to the furo open and saw Kasumi enter with a change of clothing.

"Nabiki! I didn't expect to find you in here!"

The mercenary/pet slunk down until the water obscured her collar. "Yes, well, when you said you wanted to use the furo, I thought that sounded like a good idea—you don't mind me being here, do you?"

"Of course not; really, I'm the one who's imposing on _you_. I won't be long—in fact, I'm just going to clean myself off. After all, I don't want to keep Akane waiting."

"Right." This was good—perhaps Kasumi wouldn't even notice the collar.

Kasumi undressed quickly and began soaping herself up. As she did, she decided to strike up a conversation with her sister. "So, has your day been going well?"

"Um, yeah, I'd say it's been going pretty well."

"Having a good time?"

"Yeah…"

"Any details?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to pry into our sex life?"

Kasumi smiled warmly at that. "I did, and I meant it—I was just joking a little."

"Oh." Nabiki decided to keep the conversation going to avoid looking suspicious. "Well, how about you?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, I had a good time shopping in that new mall—I found some pretty good deals." She didn't bother mentioning what _else_ she'd done while shopping—Nabiki didn't need to know about _her_ sex life (such as it was) either.

Kasumi finished cleaning herself off and proceeded to dump a bucket of cold water over her head to rinse. After walking home from the mall with some rather embarrassing bodily fluids on her person, it felt good to have everything cleaned off again. She stood up and stretched herself out. She would have liked to get in the tub with her sister, but she didn't want too keep Akane waiting at her school for too long. Still, that didn't stop her from glancing at Nabiki—and when she did, she noticed something odd.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Um, Nabiki?"

"Yes, Kasumi?"

"I hope you don't mind me asking… but why are you wearing that collar?"

"Huh?"

"Or is it a necklace that just looks like a collar? I'm not questioning your fashion choices, but I do think it's a little unusual to wear jewelry while you're taking a bath."

 _Think fast, Nabiki._ "Oh, that. I guess I must have forgotten to take it off—it's actually kind of comfortable when you get used to it."

"Well, shouldn't you take it off? After all, won't the water make the buckle rust?"

"Uh, I don't think so—I'm pretty sure it's stainless steel." _Please let her drop the subject…_

Unfortunately, Kasumi didn't drop the subject; in fact, she focused in on the one topic Nabiki had been trying desperately to avoid: "Nabiki, why are you acting so strangely? Is something going on?"

Nabiki felt a definite sense of déjà vu—this was pretty much the same situation she'd been in 24 hours ago, only this time she was pretty sure that Ranma wouldn't provide any _Master ex machina_ for her this time. Luckily, she could still use the tactic that she hadn't used yesterday: requesting that her sister remain willfully ignorant. "Kasumi, I really don't want to have to do this, but I can't tell you. I know the way I'm acting sounds suspicious, and in fact, if you really put your mind to it, I'm sure you could figure out what was going on. But this—this is part of something that _needs_ to stay a secret for now. Maybe someday I'll be able to explain, but not now…" Nabiki trailed off, trying to think of some way out of this. "Kasumi, I hate lying to you, and if you start asking me questions like this, I'll _have_ to do that—it's my only option."

This got Kasumi's attention, though probably not the way her sister had intended. "Nabiki… if something's wrong…"

The response was immediate. "No! Nothing's wrong at all—in fact, this collar is part of one of the best things that's ever happened in my life." Nabiki had totally dropped the "Ice Queen" persona—Kasumi _had_ to know that there was nothing wrong. "It's just that I'm not sure that you're ready to hear about it—no, on second thought, I _know_ you're not ready to hear it, and the same goes with pretty much everyone else in Nerima. I know this is a lot to ask, but as your sister, I need you to trust me on this—right now, the less you know, the better."

Kasumi didn't answer right away; instead, she just looked at her sister's face, trying to see if there was anything she should have been truly worried about—though her eyes kept darting to that mysterious strip of black leather around Nabiki's neck. She wasn't quite sure _what_ this was all about, but it was obvious that her sister thought this needed to remain a secret, and Nabiki usually had good instincts about that sort of thing. She finished toweling herself off.

"Well, you're right about one thing—you _are_ asking a lot—but I suppose I'll have to trust you…" A sudden thought occurred to her. "Does Ranma have something to do with this?" Upon seeing the panic-stricken look on Nabiki's face, she realized she'd made a mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry—I'll… I'll try not to pry into this, but it's going to be difficult."

"I know. But I wouldn't ask you to do it if I didn't think you could."

"One last thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Did you put that collar on before or after it got wet?"

"Um, before. Why?"

"Nothing—it's just that leather gets tighter as it dries out; if you put that around your neck when it was wet, you could become asphyxiated. Also, unless you keep it properly oiled, the leather itself will probably degrade—of course, that's assuming that your collar is made of real leather and not some sort of imitation…"

"Oh." Nabiki had to resist breathing a sigh of relief—it made sense that Kasumi would want to share household hints when it could improve a family member's wellbeing. "Don't worry about it—I'm certain that won't happen. Like I said, it was dry when I put it on, and it was pretty loose then." Her Master was generally careful, and even if he did suffer a lapse, he'd made it understood that he would tolerate disobedience (or at least the questioning of his orders) if there was an overriding safety concern. Besides, she'd worn it while he was giving her a bath during their first encounter, and nothing happened, so it had to be pretty water resistant, right? Still, she'd have to bring this up with her owner soon after Kasumi left.

"Well, make sure I'll let you get back to your soaking."

"All right. You and Akane have fun tonight, okay?"

"I'm sure we will."

"Oh, and Kasumi?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Kasumi simply smiled as she finished dressing.

Nabiki breathed a sigh of relief as her sister exited the furo—she'd managed to keep her relationship with her owner a secret. Granted, if Kasumi was a little more knowledgeable about unusual sexual practices she would have been toast, and she _still_ had to resort to what was essentially begging to get her sister to promise not to pry further into this, but her tactic was still a success—at least she hoped it was.

As Kasumi left her home to meet Akane, she thought about the decidedly unusual conversation she'd had with Nabiki. Despite what some persons might think, she wasn't _totally_ oblivious. The context of the conversation left absolutely no doubt in her mind that the collar had _something_ to do with her sister's sex life—it was the few subjects that Nabiki felt uncomfortable talking to Kasumi about, and all of the other possible explanations certainly wouldn't qualify as "one of the best things" in Nabiki's life. Besides, from the mischievous look in Ranma's eye when he first greeted her, it was certain that he knew (and approved) of the collar—or at least, whatever the collar was a larger part of, and let's face it, pretty much all of their activities that day would have some sort of sexual aspect to them. What confused Kasumi was _how_ a dog collar could possibly come into play when two people were making love.

As far as Kasumi was concerned, there were basically two aspects of sex worthy of attention: emotional bonding, and mutual gratification. But one didn't need accessories for that—not really. Perhaps it was a bit like lingerie. After all, covering up select parts of the female body usually increased the desire of one's lover to _remove_ said coverings. But this possibility left Kasumi with the same question— _Why a_ _ **collar?**_ It was all so very confusing…

Then again, Nabiki _had_ been pretty sure that her older sister wasn't ready to hear all of the details. And Kasumi _had_ promised not to look any further into this…

With a sigh, Kasumi reluctantly let the subject drop. She'd made her promise, and besides, she had to turn her attention to her night out with Akane, anyway.

After drying herself off, Nabiki rejoined her Master in the living room.

"Is the coast clear?"

"Yeah. Guess everything went okay, huh?"

"I suppose so. It wasn't exactly my finest hour, but I managed to get the job done."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, Kasumi noticed my collar, and she used the 'concerned maternal figure' routine on me. I can never trick her when she's like that, mostly because she only pulls it out when she really _is_ concerned about something, so I had to resort to begging her not to ask any more questions. I think she's naïve enough about sex that she hasn't figured anything out—she's probably confused more than anything else."

Ranma looked worried at this. "Are ya sure about that? After all, she's shown us over and over that she's sharper than she looks."

"Master, Kasumi's opinions about sex are so old-fashioned, she probably thinks that the cowgirl position is kinky—I doubt she knows very much about the sort of thing we do. Besides, she's promised me she won't pry, and I trust her."

"Well, alright. Guess I may have been asking for too much."

"Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it." Nabiki then changed the subject to something a bit more pressing. "Master, is it safe to get this collar wet? I submerged it in the furo when I first tried to hide it from Kasumi, and before she left she mentioned something about leather shrinking as it dries."

"Huh? Oh—I don't think ya gotta worry 'bout that. The guy at the pet shop said it wasn't real leather—some sorta fancy plastic or somethin'."

"Oh… wait—the pet shop?"

"Um—yeah… where else would I get all that stuff for the first time?"

Nabiki _would_ have made a comment about a certain type of "specialty" store, but she realized that there was no way in hell her owner would have been able to work up the courage to go to one of those on his own, so she let the subject drop. "Well then, what will we be doing next, Master? Or haven't you thought that far ahead yet?"

"Uh… not really… other than what we did this morning with the Denial Point, I've just sorta been wingin' it, ya know? Why? Do ya have any ideas?"

Nabiki gave her owner a playful smirk. "Well, now that you mention it…"

"Well, now that you mention it, I was hoping we could start the process of helping you appreciate your cursed form—you _did_ say you wanted my help with that, and this is one of few times we're almost certain to have privacy…"

Ranma sighed. His pet was right, of course. This _would_ be a good time to start that, and the fact that he was so nervous about it just went to show how necessary it was. "Ya got an idea on how ta do that?"

"A few, actually. But first I need to know if you want to do this now, Master. I don't want to push you."

"Nah, it's alright—I think I might really need this."

"Good. Now, do you want me to keep my collar on, or do you not want to let that part of our sex life to get involved in this yet? I have ideas on how to do this either way."

Ranma gave some thought to that. It might make him less nervous if Nabiki was his nominal equal when they did this the first time—but he dismissed that idea. After all, in reality, the collar was little more than an indicator of how he wanted his pet to behave at any given time. "May as well keep wearin' it. After all, it's not like ya aren't my pet when ya ain't wearin' it, so it's not like we _can_ keep our sex life outta anythin' else, right?"

Nabiki smiled—she was hoping her Master would choose to do it this way. Not that she wouldn't have been glad to do it under any circumstances, but this way would be more… interesting. "Alright, Master. Just give me ten minutes to set things up, and then meet me in the furo, okay?"

 _Set things up? What does she mean by that?_ Ranma's curiousity was certainly piqued. "Alright… ya sure ya won't need any help?"

"No, Master, I don't think so… it would probably be best if you couldn't prepare yourself mentally for what I have in mind. And with that in mind, could I request that you stay in your room for those ten minutes?"

"Sure, you can request that."

"And will you grant me that request?"

"I suppose—but this better be worth it."

"Oh, it will, Master. I have no doubt about that."

Kasumi was late; popping in for a quick cleanup had taken quite a bit longer than she expected due to Nabiki's unusual behavior. And her promise not to pry any further into that collar issue—she'd try her best to keep it, but she wasn't exactly sure how long she'd be able to keep her curiosity in check after that exchange. _What did Nabiki mean when she said I "wasn't ready"_ —Kasumi abruptly cut off her thoughts before they could go any further. Nothing good could come from that train of thought.

To get her mind off of Nabiki, she went over the schedule for her night with Akane. _Alright, once I pick up Akane, we'll head over to Dr. Tofu's so she can change out of her uniform, and then we'll head back to the shopping district—Akane can pick up something nice to help her get over the loss of Ranma. Then, around six, we can see a movie, and when that's done we'll have dinner—or should it be dinner,_ _ **then**_ _a movie?_ Kasumi paused as she attempted to make up her mind, only to start moving again after a few seconds. After all, she was late, and didn't have the luxury of stopping right now. _I suppose I'll have to decide later… or maybe I'll let Akane decide. But either way, we're going to want to keep the conversation light over dinner, so we can't really discuss her feelings about this then… I suppose I'll just have wait until the time is right to do that. At least, I_ _ **hope**_ _that there will be a right time. But anyway, after that, perhaps we can partake in some of the city's nightlife, and if there's still time left after we're done, we can take a walk in the park. Then we can come home, and I suppose Akane can pick up that uniform on the way back from school tomorrow._

All in all, Kasumi had a nice evening planned… well, she probably would have liked it arranged in more detail, preferably down to the minute, but perhaps there was something to be said for flexibility in this case. She turned the corner to see the entrance to Furinkan—and a mildly irritated Akane staring at her watch and tapping her foot. _Oh, my. I hope she hasn't been waiting for_ _ **too**_ _long._ In any case, Kasumi wasn't about to let her youngest sister wait any longer than she had to, so she called out, "Akane!"

Ranma sat in his room, wondering what his pet actually had planned to help him with his curse—and more importantly, _why_ that plan involved him sitting in his room while Nabiki took care of some sort of "preparations." He almost came out to see what was going on as he heard Nabiki grunting, as though she was moving a large object down the stairs. _What in the world is she up to?_

Sure, there was really nothing keeping him _in_ his room; in a relationship like theirs, an instruction from Nabiki had all the force of a polite suggestion. If he decided to see what was going on for himself, she might be a little disappointed, but she'd hardly be _angry_ about it, and there wasn't much she could have done anyway. But it was just so nice to see this side of Nabiki—a side that was eager to help him, rather than trying to bilk him for everything he had. He didn't really want to do anything to discourage this part of Nabiki's personality. In fact, one might say that one of his goals was to train his pet until occurrences like the one happening at the moment were commonplace.

So, he waited—and sure enough, almost as soon as the ten minutes Nabiki had asked for expired, she called upstairs, "Okay, Master! You can come down to the furo now!"

Ranma screwed up his face upon entering the furo—he was pretty damn sure that it hadn't contained a large object covered by a sheet the last time he'd cleaned himself, and yet, leaning against the wall next to his beaming pet, there it was… _whatever_ it was. "What the heck is that?"

"All in due time, Master. Would you mind getting undressed?"

Ranma didn't really mind this at all, and soon shed his garments. "Okay, Nabiki. What've ya got in mind?"

"Well, you know how you said you were open to the idea of a harem?"

Ranma wasn't sure what this had to do with his problem, but he figured that Nabiki had to have a good reason for bringing it up. "Uh, I guess… though it ain't somethin' I plan on jumpin' right into."

"I know, Master, but really, from a certain point of view, you could say that you _already_ have a harem."

"Huh? What the heck are ya talkin' about?"

"I mean that you already have another girl—in fact, you've had her for some time. You just haven't been willing to take advantage of that yet."

"What? Who?"

Instead of answering directly, Nabiki picked up a bucket and splashed her owner in the face with cold water, leaving the redhead sputtering for a moment. With a flourish, Nabiki pulled down the sheet to reveal a full-length mirror. " _She_ is the other girl who belongs to you."

Ranma-chan finally pushed the wet, red hair from her eyes, revealing an expression that was somewhere between confusion and disbelief on her face. "Um, Nabiki, that girl _is_ me."

Nabiki smirked at her owner. "And you own yourself, don't you?"

"Well… I guess…."

"Well, 'Mistress,'" Nabiki said with a definite twinkle in her eye, "that means you own the redhead as much as you own me—more so, in fact."

Ranma sighed. "I dunno, Nabiki. I mean, I can kinda see where yer comin' from, an' I appreciate that yer tryin' ta use my thing for Domination ta help, but this whole idea seems kinda weird."

"Come on, Mistress, it's not like I'm even trying to get you to completely accept your female form yet. I'm just trying to help you get into the proper mindset where you can feel comfortable doing some… exploration."

Ranma was still hesitant. "Eh…."

Nabiki decided that she'd have to pull the 'sad puppy face' trick again. "Please?"

Ranma wanted to say no… but ironically, she found that she just couldn't refuse her pet. Not when she was trying this hard to please her, anyway. "Okay… I'll give it a shot."

"Thank you, Mistress!" This was going to be good. "Okay, now, like I was saying, you own that redhead in the mirror in an even more personal way than you own me."

"Um, I'm still Dominant when I'm a girl, though."

"Work with me, here. Just because your redhead doesn't wear a collar, and just because I will gladly submit to the redhead as readily as I will to the handsome young man, doesn't mean the redhead has any independence apart from—she depends on you for her very existence."

Ranma was still a little wary of the way her pet spoke of her girlform as though it were a different person, but she decided to play along. "Okay… so I own her?"

"Of course. You can make that redhead do absolutely _anything_ you want her to, and she can't refuse; she'll _never_ be able to refuse you, because she _is_ you."

Surprisingly, as she stared at the naked girl in the mirror, Ranma really _was_ starting to get into the mindset her pet spoke of. "Yeah… I… I think I understand… k-keep going…."

Nabiki walked up behind her owner and embraced her, wrapping her arms around her midsection and pressing her breasts into her back. "This girl… this _woman_ , is yours, and that means that you have every right to explore and take pleasure from every inch of her body."

Ranma was starting to breathe heavier now. "And… and if I like it?"

Nabiki tightened her embrace as she spoke quietly into her owner's ear: "Then you're taking pleasure in that which belongs to you. It's no different than when you take enjoyment from my body. My body exists for your fulfillment, as does yours. The fact that you can enjoy your female body won't make Ranma Saotome any less of a man." The pet wasn't sure if she was violating a rule, but right now, she didn't care. Her owner's long-term wellbeing was at stake, and if she had to take some punishment in order to get her point across, then so be it.

Ranma closed her eyes—she could almost see where Nabiki was coming from… the redhead _did_ belong to her… and she would obey Ranma without question… sort of. Why should she be afraid of enjoying her self?

Ranma's pet continued speaking: "You've let your curse control you for so long… and I, for one, think you should take that control back." Sure, Nabiki was exaggerating her owner's situation a bit for dramatic effect, but it seemed to be working, as the redhead's muscles loosened and she let forth the tiniest of moans.

Encouraged, Nabiki slid a hand onto her owner's breast—which elicited a gasp from Ranma, who quickly broke from the embrace and turned to face her pet. "I'm sorry, Nabiki, but I just ain't ready for… for somethin' like that. Not yet." She sighed, "I know ya tried hard, and I gotta admit that tryin' ta use the whole Domination thing ta get me ta look at this in a different way was pretty creative, but… but I just ain't ready for sex as a girl—with or without help."

"You don't need to apologize to me, Mistress," Nabiki replied. "I'm hardly in any position to tell _you_ what you should do with _your_ body."

"Speakin' of which, I think I'd like ta get back in my male one right now."

Nabiki simply gestured towards the furo. Ranma picked up the bucket her pet had splashed her with earlier, dipped it into the steaming water, and poured the contents over her head. "Much better," he commented. "Now, I believe we have a little matter to resolve."

"We do, Master?"

"Yeah. Ya called me 'Ranma' a few minutes ago, an' that's a definite no-no."

"I'm sorry Master—it was… force of habit I suppose."

Ranma smirked. "Well, I suppose even the best pets still gotta be trained, right?"

"Whatever you say, Master."

"I'm pretty sure that's the whole point."


	2. The Best Laid Plans

**by Kwakerjak**

Akane was in a state of disbelief. In one moment it seemed that everything had been taken away from her. One minute, she was arguing with her fiancé over some trivial matter, the next, he's not her fiancé anymore. And for some reason, she felt like her heart had been shattered. _It makes no sense—I can't stand that obnoxious, egocentric, perverted jerk; we've never gotten along. Ever. I should be grateful to my sister for taking him off my hands—so why do I feel like I've just blown the biggest opportunity of my life?_

They _didn't_ like each other. They _couldn't_ like each other. All they did was get in each other's way—they'd never actually done anything to help each other! So what if Ranma had saved her life a few times, any decent person would do that, perverted or not. Right? Besides, if she really liked him, she would have actually _helped_ him deal with the insanity in his life. And Akane was certain that that had never happened. Almost. Well, there was that time with Pink and Link. But that was different! Those freaky plants with their poisonous gases and stuff were threatening the whole ward and could have possibly killed everyone (except Kodachi, who was probably immune to every poison in the world by now)! That had been the only time… well, she _had_ helped him out during that whole Picolette Jardin fiasco, but that was just the right thing to do—he could have starved otherwise. And sure… she had done little things for him here and there, like getting him hot water, or covering for him when his mother showed up… but… _Oh, no!_

Akane finally began to realize that, when they weren't bickering abut some perceived insult, the two of them actually went out of their way to help each other. Often. And that _had_ to mean something, if only that they didn't dislike each other. She began to feel more and more that she had missed a great opportunity. Now that she wasn't Ranma's fiancée, what was she? Before she met Ranma she would have thought of herself as primarily a martial artist, but now…

That was the other thing that bothered her. Since Nabiki had actually _married_ Ranma, her father had apparently decided to make _her_ the heir to the family school. In the last decade, Akane had been the only one of his daughters to show any interest in the Art; she had always assumed that _she_ would be the heir. But that was gone, given away to Nabiki, who had barely reached the intermediate level before she stopped practicing. What did she have left? Akane _really_ wished she knew how to do the Shi Shi Hokodan.

She was still mired in her depression when she heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"Akane? It's me, Kasumi. Can I come in?"

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk."

Akane sighed. She knew that her oldest sister sided with Nabiki; that was obvious from the way she had acted at dinner. Still, Kasumi had raised her for ten years, and Akane knew that she wouldn't be judgmental. "Alright."

Kasumi opened the door and walked in. She sat down on the bed next to her sister. "Are you okay?" She knew the correct answer was "no," but she needed to know if Akane realized that.

Akane's response was an automatic "I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Ye—I don't know."

 _Well, that's close enough._ "You know that they both care for you, right?"

"Who?"

"Ranma and Nabiki, of course."

Akane expected the answer would be something like this. She momentarily forgot about Kasumi as she turned to her favorite coping mechanism: anger. "Oh yeah?! Then why did they do this to me? Why did they take everything away?! I don't have anything now!"

Kasumi hesitated—one wrong move and Akane could explode. As gently as she could, she replied to her sister's complaint. "That isn't true, Akane."

"Of course it is! I can't cook, sew or be the perfect domestic housewife like you, I can't make money without even trying like Nabiki, my grades aren't anything special, I couldn't swim if my life depended on it, and the only guys who are interested in me are hormonal idiots who just want to screw me and brag about it in the locker room the next day!"

"What about the Art?"

"What about it?"

"You're one of the best in Nerima."

"Yeah, right. I _was_ one of the best, until Ranma showed up dragging every martial arts grandmaster in the universe behind him. After he came, I wasn't anywhere near the top anymore. For crying out loud, in the last year I've been more like a damsel in distress than a marital artist! I probably wouldn't stand a chance if Ukyo or Shampoo seriously went after me. Face it, until now, I've been Akane Tendo, heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes and fiancée of Ranma Saotome. I'm nothing now." She couldn't hold beck the tears any longer. She buried her face in her sister's shoulder, and started sobbing.

For a few minutes, Kasumi said nothing. She merely held her little sister close and allowed her to cry. When it seemed to have subsided, she had a vague idea of what to say, and prayed that she'd get it right. "You aren't nothing, little sister. First of all, I'm not certain that Nabiki is officially the heir to the school. As heir, she would be the one who would have to answer any challenges, and Father cares too much about both her and the school to let someone with so little experience fight high-caliber martial artists. He probably said that in his excitement at the possibility of joining the schools—and I intend to talk with him about it as soon as possible. Not only is it insensitive to you, it could be dangerous for Nabiki.

"As for Ranma, all I can tell you is that I know more about their relationship than you do, and I know that they are quite serious about this."

That didn't exactly satisfy Akane. "But don't they care about what I feel?"

Kasumi paused—a lot of things depended on Akane believing what she said next. "Akane, as difficult as it may be for you to believe now, they did this _because_ they both care about you."

"What?!"

"When they realized how serious their relationship was, they decided that it wouldn't be fair to you if they simply pretended nothing was happening—because it would have hurt you even more to find out that they were doing it behind your back. They had to do this—not to spite you, but because they respect you as a person."

If anyone other than Kasumi had said that, Akane would have punched them in the face. As it was, she just stared at her floor.

"It's all right if you don't believe me, Akane. But please at least consider what I've said. Ranma and Nabiki are going to need your help very soon; without it, they're going to have a rough time when word of this gets out." Kasumi stood up to leave. Before she went out the door, she turned to her sister and said. "You aren't a nothing, Akane. Even if you've lost Ranma and the school, you're still Akane Tendo, and people still care about you." Kasumi left, and shut the door behind her.

" _You're still Akane Tendo." Hmpf. Like that's supposed to make me feel better. I don't even really know who she is…_ Turning her thoughts from self-depreciation, Akane decided to…

Akane decided to go outside for a bit. It was a little late for a walk, but a few minutes alone by the koi pond would help her straighten out her thoughts. She could only remember one time when she had been so utterly confused, and that was her when her mother died. That was when she had started training in earnest—physical activity always helped her calm down. Since the Saotomes' arrival, she'd gotten so preoccupied with the insanity that seemed to follow Ranma that she wasn't following her regimen the way she used to. That probably explains why I always seem to get upset at him.

Still, it seemed that this revelation had come to her too late. Ranma was beyond her grasp now, and it was as much her fault as his. Why does he have to be so stubborn? Hell, why do I have to be so stubborn? If I'd just given him a chance—a real chance—maybe I wouldn't be looking at losing the school. Sure, Kasumi had told her that she would probably still be the school's heir, and the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. But to unite the school's she'd have to name one of Ranma and Nabiki's children as her heir—and she had hoped to pass that on to one of her own children. Worse, if Nabiki trained constantly with good sensei (like their father was reputed to be), she might even be in a position to challenge her in a few years.

Akane sighed. She needed to talk to someone—someone who would just listen to what she said, without trying to refute her ideas. But where would she find someone like that at this hour? Suddenly she heard some rustling in a nearby bush. Her eyes brightened. Could it possibly be…?

It was all Ranma's fault. Ryoga didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but it had to be Ranma's fault. Because if it wasn't Ranma's fault, that meant that he was responsible for the hell that was his life, and he didn't do anything to deserve this—well, nothing that wouldn't be forgiven by any sensible person, anyway. He was currently a piglet. He had been standing on a street corner, when a fire hydrant spontaneously malfunctioned. He was currently hiding under a bush with his backpack, wondering if he'd ever reach Nerima. He knew he wasn't anywhere near the ward because that was exactly where he wanted to be right now. He let out a despondent "Bweee" and was about to go to sleep for the night when he heard a female voice.

"P-chan? Is that you?"

"Bweee!" Things were looking up.

"It is you! Oh, P-chan, I'm so glad to see you!" Akane moved the bush aside and picked up the black piglet. She then noticed a familiar backpack and umbrella nearby. Huh? Ryoga must have left his things the last time he came here. She made a mental note to drag the lost boy's heavy equipment inside later. Right now, she had other, more pressing matters to deal with. "Oh, P-chan, I really need someone to talk to right now. You'll listen, won't you?"

"Bweee." Whatever Ranma did, I'm going to kill him.

Akane told P-chan everything that had happened that night, including the change in the engagement, the marriage, and her potential loss of the Tendo school. She also told him how she had realized she was partly responsible for her problems with Ranma, but the martial-artist-turned-piglet didn't hear that part. In the end, Akane went to sleep, glad to have an outlet for her confusion and frustration.

P-chan did not sleep, as he was making plans to avenge Akane's honor and pride. You've gone too far this time, Saotome. This time, you will pay.

Cut to…

Things just didn't seem to be working out at all for Akane. Going to sleep was _supposed_ to work. She'd have some sort of dream, or vision, or divine inspiration and then she'd wake up and know exactly what to do. That didn't happen. The dreams… well, they weren't nightmares, but they all seemed to have a bittersweet quality to them that made her even more troubled. (Except for the one where she and Sean Connery went to Istanbul to rescue the emperor's puppy from an evil vampire Santa Claus. _That_ just confused her, especially when Princess Leia showed up.)

As a result, when she woke up 30 minutes before her alarm went off, she still didn't know what to do. The future of the Tendo School was still in doubt, and she was starting to suspect that her relationship with Ranma had been deeper than she ever realized. Talking to P-Chan should have helped, but somehow she had the nagging feeling that she had somehow _really_ screwed things up by talking to him—but that couldn't be right. It's not like the piglet could understand her, and even if he could, he couldn't do anything about it, right? _Speaking of which, where is P-Chan? I don't see him anywhere. Huh, I guess he ran off again. Another thing to add to the list of things that aren't going my way._ With a depressed sigh, she started up her morning routine, still unsure about what she would do about the mess she was in.

"Father?"

"Yes, Kasumi?"

"We need to talk… about the School."

"Is something wrong?"

"Possibly…"

Akane headed to the furo. _Maybe a bath will help me clear my mind._ She opened the door to the changing room to find her sister. "Nabiki! Uh, I'm sorry, the sign wasn't on the door and I didn't mean to interrupt you and maybe I should just eat breakfast and I shouldn't have both—"

"Actually, I was just finishing. You can use the furo if you want."

"Oh. Well, alright."

Nabiki was about to leave, but at the last minute she turned around. "Akane. I'm sorry for not telling you about my relationship with Ranma. I would have let you know, but it sprang up so fast that neither of us really knew what was happening—"

"That's alright, Nabiki. I don't care." Akane didn't want to think about her sister and brother-in-law.

"You're a horrible liar."

"Look, don't you have something else to do?"

"I suppose. But Akane, we _are_ going to have to talk about this eventually."

"Maybe, but not now."

Another pause in the conversation. Akane had started disrobing when Nabiki spoke up again. "Will you help us?"

 _Dammit. I do not want to make this decision right now._ She wanted her mind to be definitively made up. But she didn't have that luxury. Nabiki wasn't physically strong enough to handle the insanity that came with being in a relationship with Ranma yet—and a lot of dangerous people would no doubt try to take advantage of that.

It should have been a no-brainer; regardless of how she felt, she wanted Nabiki to stay safe. But continuing to pretend to be Ranma's fiancée would effectively put a halt to any chance for her to find someone else until… Wait a minute. Someone _else_? Why would she need someone _else_? She was never going to be with Ranma from the very beginning, and everyone knew that. The only reason guys didn't approach her was because of that idiot Kuno. The fact that she was no longer Ranma's fiancée wouldn't change a thing.

"I guess I'll help you guys—I want you to be safe."

For all their differences, the various martial artists in Nerima shared one thing in common—a near-infinite capacity for self-delusion.

Breakfast went normally (well, normal for the Tendo household). Akane didn't say anything—she just ate her food and left to get her things. She'd decided to head to school early, and was just about to leave, when she heard her father's voice behind her.

"Akane, wait."

 _Why does everyone want to deal with me before I'm ready?_ "What is it?"

"I need to discuss the future of the school with you."

"I thought you'd already made Nabiki the heir—she's the one who's married to Ranma, after all."

Soun noted the bitterness in his daughter's voice. If anything, Kasumi had been understating Akane's resentment. "Well, about that… perhaps I was… a bit too hasty with what I said. It is important to unite the schools, but… perhaps naming Nabiki the heir is not the only way to do so."

"What are you implying, Daddy? That you'll let me continue to be the heir as long as I name Ranma's kid as mine?"

"Uh… that… would be nice…" Soun wasn't the most observant of people, but even he could tell he was treading on thin ice. Obviously, Akane would want to pass the school on to one of her children. "Akane, I don't mean to belittle you or your accomplishments, it's just… I've waited so long…"

Akane's patience was wearing thin. She'd have enough problems as it was, since she'd agreed to help the newlyweds with their ruse, and she could only deal with one crisis at a time. "Can we talk about this later?" She tried to be respectful, but the exasperation in her voice was obvious.

Soun sighed. He had hoped to reach an understanding with his youngest daughter, but now clearly was not the time. "I suppose this will have to wait. Would you mind going to school with Ranma and Nabiki? We don't want anyone thinking something's wrong."

Akane sighed. _I can't win for losing, can I?_ "Alright, Daddy."

Shortly thereafter, the trio set off for Furinkan.

The walk to school was mostly quiet, save for Akane's seething. The ladle lady wasn't even out that day—and that had Ranma worried. Every time he went to school there was some degree of chaos, and when the ladle lady didn't even show up to water her sidewalk, that usually meant the chaos would be concentrated at the _end_ of their brief journey to Furinkan. The had nearly reached the entrance of the aforementioned educational establishment when—

" **Prepare to die, Saotome!**

Sometimes, Ranma hated being right.

"Whaddya want now, pork-butt?" Though outwardly Ranma had assumed his usual semi-ignorant, devil-may-care attitude, in reality, he was extremely worried. Usually, Ryoga's chi was almost entirely depression based, but now, while the lost boy _was_ giving off some depression chi, more of it seemed to be focused in a sense of moral outrage. Ranma recognized the emotion immediately—it was the only one that a certain delusional kendoist ever expressed. Speaking of which, Ryoga's outburst had drawn the attention of Kuno, as well as the entire student body (and most of the faculty) at Furinkan, who never missed the opportunity to watch Ranma and his directionally-challenged rival pummel each other until they couldn't see straight (or until that spoilsport Hinako cut it off).

For his part, Ryoga really _was_ convinced that he had divine backing for his defense of Akane's honor. The fact that he hadn't gotten lost on the way to Furinkan _had_ to be the result of divine intervention. Thus, it was with a great deal of (gasp!) confidence that Ryoga began attacking Ranma, simultaneously delivering a monologue that was almost Kunoesque in its indignation between his blows (most of which Ranma simply dodged).

"Saotome," – punch – "in the time I've known you" – kick – "I've seen you do some terrible things." – punch, kick – "You took my food," – punch, punch – "shirked our fight," – double kick, one of which actually managed to graze Ranma – "and put me through **HELL!** " – a break in the monologue for yet another flurry of attacks, which finally got Ranma to respond with blocks – "And you know what?" – sweep kick – "If you hadn't done what you did, I think I could have lived with that."

 _That_ took Ranma (and everyone else present) completely by surprise, which explained why Ryoga managed to land a left hook squarely on Ranma's jaw. It took a while for Ranma to formulate a response (an undefended punch from someone as strong as Ryoga really, _really_ hurts), but when he did it was, unsurprisingly, an expression of disbelief.

" **What?!** Then what're ya fightin' me for?!" He jumped Furinkan's concrete sign to await Ryoga's next move.

Ryoga snarled and unleashed the Bakusai Tenketsu on the sign, causing Ranma to backflip into the schoolyard. The lost boy took a deep breath—he didn't ant anything to get in the way of his indictment of his pigtailed foe. "I've sat by and watched you continually hurt those around you, but until recently, I simply chalked it up to your boneheaded stupidity. But this time you've gone to far! I will not let you get away with this, do you hear me, Ranma?!

"Get away with what?"

"Don't play ignorant with me! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"No, I don't! What horrible thing are ya sayin' I did?"

Ryoga was red-faced and visably shaking by now. **"I'm talking about you going behind Akane's back and marrying Nabiki,** _ **that's what!"**_

There was silence.

For about three seconds.

Akane's heart rate increased considerably. She wasn't sure what to do—part of her wanted to let Ranma and Nabiki face the chaos that they had coming to them, but another part suddenly wanted to make sure that the two of them (especially her sister) stayed safe. And Nabiki would most certainly not be safe with super-powered martial artists coming after her. Even if she _did_ deserve it for the things she did at times, she was still her sister. Akane made her decision. "Ryoga, what the heck are you talking about?"

The lost boy stopped his tirade and gave her a puzzled look. "They… they got married… and the Tendo school…"

"What about our family's school?"

"They… they took it from you… right?" Everyone turned to Akane, intent on hearing her response. This conversation was getting more interesting by the second.

"And exactly where did you get an idea like that?" A schoolyard of necks swiveled back to Ryoga.

"Um… well…" This was _not_ going well. Ryoga was only trying to help Akane deal with her fiancé's treachery. But instead of letting him expose Ranma for the fraud that he was, she was standing up for the dishonorable bastard, and Ryoga didn't have a clue why. It couldn't have been for her sister's sake—Nabiki was just as guilty as Ranma. Besides, Soun had named her the heir to the Tendo school, so it wasn't like she couldn't hold her own, right? Yeah, that made perfect sense—in fact… Ryoga tried his best not to look nervous as he responded to Akane's inquiry. "Y-your father n-named her as the heir, right?"

Gasps of surprise came from the crowd. Forget interesting, this was downright scandalous! Kuno bellowed unintelligibly and was set to revenge Akane's lost honor, but he was restrained by a surprisingly brave student body. There was no way they were going to let anything interrupt _this_ conversation!

Akane wasn't sure how to answer the lost boy, because she wasn't entirely sure what the answer was herself. Luckily, her quick-thinking sister jumped into the fray. Nabiki leveled her most dispassionate stare at Ryoga and said, "Really, Hibiki, I thought you were smarter than that. Why would our father make _me_ the heir to the school? I haven't practiced in years! If the school was challenged, I wouldn't be in any position to accept. Besides, you're dodging the question. Who or what exactly gave you the idea that _I_ married Ranma?"

 _Not good. Not good._ _ **Not good!**_ Ryoga was in real trouble now. He couldn't very well tell them the _truth_ , as that would result in Akane despising him for the rest of his life (which probably wouldn't be a very long time considering how angry she would be). _Gotta think of something… I know!_ "I heard it from your fathers."

" **What?!"** chorused a trio of extremely irate voices.

"Your fathers. They were celebrating last night, and they were drunk of their asses, and I passed by them and heard them say that Saotome married Nabiki, which would make her the heir to the Tendo school." _Yes! Try and weasel your way out of_ _ **that**_ _one, Saotome. Go Ryoga, it's your birthday…_

While Ryoga Hibiki continued with his internal celebration, Kuno had decided that he had heard enough. "Cease this prattling at once! It is clear that the vile Saotome has abused the fair Akane far beyond what scruples even _I_ believed him to possess. But no more! Now, demon, thou shalt receive thy comeuppance! By all that is good and just in the world, I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall once and for all smite thee and free Akane and the pigtailed goddess from thy grasp, and take them for mine own—"

Here, Kuno was cut off by Akane, who sent the self-proclaimed "rising star of the high school kendo world" into Low Earth Orbit. This, in itself, wouldn't have been notable—Kuno usually recovered from that quickly—but for the target of her kick, Akane had chosen the most sensitive part of the male body (Kuno referred to his as "The _True_ Thunder of Furinkan High") and she had hit that target dead on, causing those present with a Y chromosome to wince in sympathy (though for many, this was the first time they had had _any_ sympathy for Tatewaki Kuno). The kendoist would probably not be coming to class on time, if at all. She glared at Ryoga, causing the lost boy to wilt.

"You listen to me and listen good, Ryoga. Ranma and Nabiki are **not** married, she has **not** been named heir to the Tendo school, and if you actually believe something out fathers said when they were **drunk** , that would make you the biggest idiot I've ever seen!"

"B-but…"

" _ **But WHAT?!"**_ roared Akane.

 _But you told me different when I was P-chan._ Ryoga wasn't nearly dumb enough to say _that_ out loud; when you spend a large amount of time as a potential source of lunchmeat, you develop really good survival instincts. "I… I guess I must have misunderstood something."

"You're damn right you did," Akane growled. She stalked off to class. Fortunately, everyone present was sufficiently stunned to prevent any of more indiscreet persons in the audience from using the phrase "that time of the month" until she was out of hearing distance.

Slowly, everyone trickled into the school, leaving behind a stunned thoroughly bewildered Ryoga Hibiki.

Nabiki briefly met with her lieutenants before class. "Before anyone asks, no, Ranma and I are not in a romantic relationship." It was true, for the most part. She and Ranma hadn't been together long enough for any romance to develop. "If they want clarification, hold them off—I need to talk to our fathers and figure out what the hell they were talking about."

The meeting would have ended there, but someone brought up an important business item. "What should we set as the odds of you getting through school today without getting attacked by one of Ranma's fiancées?"

Nabiki bit her lip before making her pronouncement. "3 to 2 against." After further consideration, she added, "10 to 1 against if Kodachi's included."

Ukyo wasn't sure how to react to what had just happened. The thought of Ranchan marrying _Nabiki_ , of all people, was so ludicrous she would normally have laughed it off—at the worst, it would probably turn out to me yet another moneymaking scheme from the bob-haired huckster. But this time… something told her that even if Nabiki and Ranma hadn't married (not that she believed they _did_ ), something had happened that was going to change _everything_. And she was worried that whatever it was, it wouldn't be good news for her. She'd have to talk to Ranma or Akane as soon as possible.

Due to an unusually large morning crowd, Shampoo had been unable to meet her beloved on his way to school, as was her wont. Thus, neither she nor any of the other Amazons heard the news until about 10 o'clock, when she overheard two customers who had been passing by the high school when Ryoga dropped his bomb (but not the subsequent denials).

"You know, I'm really not surprised that Ranma left her—he and Akane were fighting all the time."

 _Airen has left violent girl?_ Shampoo thought hopefully. Now she and Ranma could finally go back to the village—all he needed to do was to dump the cross-dresser. But why would he spend the rest of his life with a pervert like Ukyo anyway?

Her reverie was interrupted by the second customer's reply. "Sure, but marrying _Nabiki?_ I never would have imagined those two getting together."

Shampoo abruptly dropped the bowl of ramen she was carrying. _Airen married_ _ **mercenary girl?!**_ Shampoo hadn't even known that Nabiki was in the race. _Must speak with great-grandmother—this make no sense._ Shampoo immediately went to find Cologne, not bothering to wonder why she had been thinking in Japanese.

For a ward of its size, Nerima was actually relatively tightly-knit. There are several theories as to why this is true, but most of these contain as an integral component the staggering density of high-powered martial artists. Take Akane Tendo, for example. On the Nerima scale of martial arts prowess, she was considered to be "above average." That is to say, a gifted martial artist, better than most, in fact, but far from the top of the ladder. This is in contrast to almost everywhere else in the world, where she would rate at the very least a "Sweet baby Cthulhu on a pogo stick how can anybody _possibly_ be that powerful?!" This sentiment towards Nerima's martial artists (as well the large amount of property damage the aforementioned martial artists tended to cause on a regular basis) tended to keep outsiders from traveling to that particular ward unless it was necessary.

Because of this, Nerima often felt, in some ways, like living in a small neighborhood, where everyone knows the goings-on of everyone else—well, at least the goings-on of Nerima's most prominent citizens (the aforementioned martial artists). It was also like a close-knit community in that gossip traveled very quickly—particularly if it was _really_ juicy gossip about prominent citizens. This is why Nabiki was able to make a killing in her information brokerage service—for the right price she could provide you with reasonably accurate facts from which gossip could be manufactured about pretty much anyone in the area, and for another reasonable price she could corroborate and/or correct that gossip for those who didn't quite believe it the first time. Very lucrative, really.

However, Nabiki would most likely not be giving out details about the latest gossip floating around Nerima, as she was one of the central characters. _"Ranma married Nabiki."_ You know what, forget about what I said about "floating around." This little sucker was _flying_.

The previous land speed record for hearsay traveling from Furinkan to St. Hebereke was 38 minutes and 5 seconds, held by _"Akane will date anyone who can defeat her in combat."_ (It should be noted that a rumor needn't be very accurate in order to qualify for this record.) _"Ranma married Nabiki"_ positively blew the old record away, making it to St. Hebereke with absolutely no changes in wording in an amazing 7 minutes and 53 seconds. Most gossip analysts believe that this feat of rumor-mongering was made possible though a combination of the rumor's brevity (a mere three words to the previous record holder's ten) and the fact that it left little room for interpretation (when _"Akane will date…"_ arrived at the St. Hebereke, there was still disagreement was to whether the youngest Tendo sister was participating willingly, but there was no way anyone could dispute what _"Ranma married Nabiki"_ meant). It remains one of the greatest achievements in the world of unverified information conveyance to this very day, and it is doubtful it will ever be topped.

Unfortunately, that was not the only record broken that day, because one of the first students at St. Hebereke to hear the record-breaking rumor was one Kodachi Kuno, who responded to this news by breaking the record for a Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnast traveling from St. Hebereke to Furinkan (previously held by Akari Fushida, a member of the Furinkan gymnastics team who was, at the time, running away from Kodachi Kuno). Thus it was that a mere thirty minutes passed between the Ryoga's unwanted announcement of the marriage of Ranma and Nabiki Saotome to the entrance of Kodachi into Nabiki's classroom, making a perfect landing upon the desk of the foul succubus who had ensnared her Ranma-sama.

She began to make a speech that was very, very _Kuno_ in nature. "You fiendish demoness! How dare you set your vile eyes on the heart of Ranma-sama, which rightfully belongs to me! You won't get away with this, because I, Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose, shall never allow one such as you to wrench my beloved away from me. Your petty tricks may have succeeded on my imbecilic brother, but I assure you that I have seen through them all. Indeed! You are no doubt in league with the red-headed harridan after whom my brother so ignorantly pines! But I assure you, Nabiki Tendo, that her assistance will avail you naught on this day…"

While everyone else in the room stared in panic, Nabiki, who was in full "Ice Queen" mode, calmly assessed the situation, largely ignoring the irate gymnast gesturing menacingly with her booby-trapped equipment. There was no need to actually listen to Kodachi, because trying to point out flaws in her argument when she was like this would most likely make her even more irate, and Nabiki particularly liked being alive. _Well, at least I remembered to adjust the odds to take_ _ **her**_ _into account._ She would probably end up in a body cast if Ranma didn't show up, but at least she'd break even in the betting pools. It was then that her attention was snapped back to the gymnast's rant.

"Nabiki Tendo, your day of reckoning is at hand. Prepare to face the wrath of the Black Rose!" Nabiki looked up to see Kodachi holding her patented Razor Hoop® above her head, ready to administer her holy justice upon the odious spouse of her beloved Ranma.

 _At least I didn't die a virgin,_ thought the Ice Queen. She was idly wondering whether she would end up in the cloudy place or the hot place, when the hoop was suddenly knocked out of her assailant's hand. Everyone in the room turned their heads toward the doorway and saw…

For the most part, Akane's classmates left her alone as school started. She'd somehow managed to calm down, but it was perfectly clear that the slightest spark could set her off again—even to Ranma, who actually managed to think before he thanked her for her help in front of the entire class, which would have only raised suspicions to new heights. Even Hinako decided to leave her alone during class, as talking to the girl would just result in a massive disruption, and she'd have to drain her (again), which would just take time away from her class (though she had been hired primarily as a disciplinarian, she still felt she had _some_ obligation to actually teach her students English, though that was difficult with a preteen mind). So for half an hour, Akane Tendo stared straight ahead at the blackboard with a slightly feral look in her eyes, gripping her desk in a desperate bid to keep going berserk.

Thus, when the word came that Kodachi had attacked Nabiki for ensnaring Ranma, Akane's reaction was not that surprising. _That's_ _ **it.**_ _I. Have._ _ **Had It!**_ She stood up abruptly, breaking off large chunks of her desk where her hands had neglected to let go, and ran out the door and down the hall in the general direction of Nabiki's classroom. Ranma was the first to react. "Hey, Akane! Wait up!" The pigtailed martial artist took off after his sister-in-law.

Hinako simply sighed, took out a 5 yen coin, and strolled down the hall after the delinquents.

Nabiki's classmates stared at the scene before them with a mixture of horror and amazement. Horror, because everyone knew that Kodachi Kuno was, as the local saying went, "crazy as a Kuno." Like her brother, she firmly believed that the universe was obligated to make her life go _exactly_ the way she wanted it. Of course, many believed that Kodachi was worse than her brother, because Tatewaki at least made a token effort to conform to society, while his sister simply resorted to violence and/or druggings. (To be fair, this may have more to do with the Furinkan student body's familiarity with Tatewaki than with Kodachi's actual actions. In fact, at St. Hebereke, most of the alumni were convinced that it was the elder Kuno sibling who more of a menace to society, likely for similar reasons. Naturally, anyone who stopped and reasoned things out would realize that the two of them were downright normal compared to their Hawaii-obsessed father.)

The amazement part came from the fact that Nabiki seemed to be unfazed by the irate gymnast perched on her desk. Kodachi had been ranting for five minutes, apparently without stopping to take a breath (a few figured that she was using some sort of circular breathing technique), and so far her prey's only response was to briefly raise an eyebrow before turning her attention elsewhere. Nabiki had a reputation for staying cool under pressure, but to not even bat an eye when the Razor Hoop® was brought out implied that she had nerves of adamantium. Sure, nearly everyone assumed that she would be saved by one of the martial artists (likely Ranma, though there was some disagreement as to whether or not that would imply some sort of relationship between the two), but still, this level of aloofness was otherworldly.

Their curiosity turned to full-blown panic, however, when the gymnast raised her hoop over her head, ready to strike down the wench who dared to take her Ranma-sama away from her. It looked like the middle Tendo daughter's luck had finally run out, when the rigged gymnastics instrument was knocked out of Kodachi's hand by an irregularly shaped chunk of wood. Every head in the room turned toward the door, and what was there had most of the students scrambling for cover.

It was Akane. She was holding another irregularly shaped chunk of wood, and she was angry. _Very_ angry. The amount of stress It was perfectly obvious that she was there to beat the ever-loving crap out of Kodachi Kuno.

Well, obvious to everyone but Kodachi, that is. "Humph, should have expected that the whores of the Tendo house would try and support each other. But it is no matter. I shall dispose of you as well; no doubt you too are doing lewd and illicit things to my Ranma-sama. Probably with your sister as well." The Kuno daughter would no doubt have continued in this vein, but she had to stop to dodge the seconds chunk of desk flying at her.

Akane was entering levels of "angry" that few have ever experienced, spontaneously manifesting a battle aura and throwing everything in the room that wasn't bolted down (and a few things that were) at the gymnast. And not surprisingly, most of the spectators didn't object, partially because they weren't nearly that stupid, and partially because saving one's sibling from an attack only to threatened and accused of incestuous relations with the aforementioned sibling by the attacker is enough to drive _anyone_ stark raving furious. Kodachi may have been able to dodge a few things, but even she couldn't avoid the six or seven desks that were thrown at her in the next second, causing her to slam through one of the windows in the classroom. As Akane jumped through the window to pursue her quarry, some onlookers followed to get a better view, but most had the sensibility to get the hell out of there. This was going to get ugly.

Ranma came into the classroom while the brawl was going on. Realizing that everyone was paying attention to the violence, he crept over to his pet and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Nabiki."

Despite her calm demeanor, Nabiki's nerves were still a little rattled, and she jumped slightly from Ranma's prodding. "What is it, Ranma?""Whaddya say we ditch school for the rest of the day? Somehow, I don't think anyone's gonna get any learnin' done today."

 _That_ was certainly true. Ordinarily, Nabiki tried to avoid things that would get her in trouble, like cutting class, but today was turning out to be anything but ordinary. Besides, if she stayed here, she'd be a sitting duck to her rivals (she was expecting Shampoo to assault her any minute now, and while Ukyo usually had more common sense, Nabiki wasn't about to take any chances). "Alright, but what about Akane?"

Ranma glanced outside at the giant dust cloud that had formed around Akane and the gymnast. "I think she'll be able ta handle Kodachi. But we better get goin'… I think Hinako's comin', and I just wanna get outta here."

Nabiki nodded to her owner, and the two of them left with the "no way are we sticking around for this" group.

Hinako was surprised to find the classroom unoccupied, save for the teacher, who was cowering under his desk with a rather large dark stain in the crotch area of his trousers.

"Where are the delinquents?""O-o-outside," the educator responded nervously.

Hinako would have gone through the window were it not for the shards of broken glass all around the frames. She sighed. "I guess I'll have to take the long way to the disturbance." She exited the room, and headed outdoors.

Akane's "fight" with Kodachi had been frustratingly short. When the gymnast realized that the youngest Tendo was not only capable of but apparently actually willing to hurt her (though she had no idea why), her survival instincts _finally_ kicked in and she hightailed it back to St. Hebereke (breaking yet another speed record in the process). Thus, Akane was left with a lot of excess anger, and no one guilty enough to take it out on. Except… out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a teenager in a yellow bandana, who had been too stunned to actually try and go anywhere in the last half hour. Perfect. Not only was Ryoga responsible for this mess, he'd certainly be strong enough to handle anything she could dish out. **"Ryoga Hibiki, prepare to die!"**

Ranma and Nabiki had just left school grounds when Akane sounded her battle cry. Ranma couldn't resist a smirk.

An adult Hinako Hinomiya stood over two collapsed teenagers. _Wow. Akane was giving off a_ _ **lot**_ _energy._ She would probably be an adult for the rest of the day—a good thing, since she'd probably need her adult attention span to fill out the massive amount of paperwork reporting this incident would no doubt require. As she collected the two teenagers, she suddenly realized something. _What the heck happened to Saotome?_ She decided to let it go—she had enough to deal with as it was.

"…so as you can see, it's probably not a good idea for me to stay at Furinkan today." Nabiki was talking on the phone to some school official whose name Ranma hadn't paid any attention to. She may have been in danger, but there was _no way_ she was going to let any unexcused absences appear on her permanent record. So, the Saotomes had stopped at a pay phone as soon as they were out of sight from the school.

"Just have them send my assignments home with Akane."

"All right. Will there be anything else?" Ranma was surprised to see his pet wince and bite her lip—obviously she did not like whatever the unknown person had said.

Finally she sighed and responded. "Yes, it's true." Ranma's ears perked up at that. Had she just said what he thought she'd said? Nabiki continued, "So with that in mind, will you be able to give him the day off too?"

Ranma knew that you should never, ever assume anything about Nabiki Saotome, née Tendo. She tended to keep a lot of secrets about herself, and rarely revealed them to others without a good reason. So though he had a strong suspicion of what it was that his wife had just admitted, he decided to stay quiet until she had finished.

"Good. I hope I can trust you to keep this information to yourself." Ranma knew that tone. It was the Ice Queen's _don't screw with me or I'll make your life a living hell_ voice. "Good day, then." She finally hung up the receiver.

"So what's goin' on?"

"The two of us have been excused from classes for the day."

"Why the both of us? Yer the one in danger."

"Yes, but as my husband, you're expected to protect me."

It took Ranma a few seconds to realize the full implications of what Nabiki had said. "Waitaminute! You _told_ them?"

"Ranma, I didn't really have much choice. Considering what we're going to have to do today, it's likely that we'll have to admit it."

"What exactly _are_ we gonna do today, then?" _Besides havin' sex, of course,_ he didn't add.

"We're going to the police, and I'm going to pull every string I have to make sure Kodachi doesn't bother us again."

"What?! Why?"

Nabiki sighed. "Isn't it obvious? There was no way I could have defended myself from Kodachi—this is the only recourse I have. Ranma, we have to do this, if only to show everyone what I'm capable of. I may not be of much use as a fighter, but the other martial artists in Nerima need to realize that I can be just as dangerous as they are. Do you follow me?"

"I guess… but why do we gotta let the police know about our marriage?"

"Because we'll have to tell the full story to make sure that Akane doesn't get in trouble—you know our nutjob of a principal won't like it if his daughter has legal problems, if only because he'll take money out of his Hawaii fund to pay for her lawyers. If the authorities come sniffing around, he'll try to blame everything on my sister. But I'm almost certain that Akane did nothing illegal today, and if we're the first to tell our side of the story, I'm sure the police will agree that she was justified in her actions."

Ranma nodded in response. It looks like their secret would be out—and they hadn't been able to keep it for a day. Sometimes, he was convinced that he had more curses than the one he picked up at Jusenkyo.

Seeing her husband get a downtrodden look on his face, Nabiki smiled and did her best to reassure him. "Don't worry Ranma. The police would have found out about our marriage anyway—they _do_ have access to that sort of thing, you know."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And we still have one secret that hasn't gotten out—Master." She wasn't supposed to call him that, but she figured he'd let her off relatively easy this time.

Ranma smirked. "Ya just broke a rule, ya know."

"Forgive me, I must not have been thinking clearly," replied his pet with a smirk of her own. "However, I request that you hold off my discipline for a few hours, as we'll be rather busy."

"Alright, but don't think I'm not gonna forget this."

"I know you won't, Ranma." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Shall we be going?"

"…uh, yeah." As the two of them walked towards the police station, Ranma slowly touched his hand to the place where his wife had kissed him.

Akane wasn't too surprised to wake up in the nurse's office. She also had a pretty good idea what she was doing there, but she decided to ask just to make sure. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, good. You're awake," chirped the nurse.

"What happened?"

"Well, Hinomiya-san found you fighting that boy with the bandanna who sometimes wanders around here, so she drained the two of you to get you to stop."

"Oh. How long have I been out?"

"Hmm… I'd say it's been about two hours since you were brought in."

" **Two hours?!"** Usually, Hinako's draining left her out of it for half an hour, tops.

"Well, she did say you were giving off quite a bit of ki at the time—in fact, she's still an adult right now, and she doesn't expect to revert to her child form until well into this evening. Whatever did that boy do to make you so angry?"

"Well, it's not really his fault, not directly, anyway. You see, just before school began, he accused Ranma of marrying my sister, really loudly."

"I see," said the nurse. She hadn't been around to hear Ryoga's declaration of Ranma and Nabiki's marriage (she'd heard the _rumor_ , naturally, but she hadn't found out where it originated from). "But that doesn't seem to explain why you were so angry at him."

"I wasn't angry at _him_ , I was mad at Kodachi."

"The principal's daughter?"

"Yes. Apparently she heard the rumor and came all the way from St. Hebereke to attack Nabiki."

"Oh," said the nurse, with comprehension dawning in her eyes. _That_ made more sense. She'd go to extreme lengths to protect one of her family members as well. She would have dropped the subject right there, but Akane apparently wanted to continue.

"That stupid little _bitch…_ Why can't she get it through her head that she doesn't have a shot at Ranma anymore—that she blew all of her chances a long time ago? If she could just get over it, stuff like this wouldn't have to happen. But _**noooooo**_ , she has to keep trying to go after what she can't have, mostly because she's too moronic to realize that it's impossible!"

The nurse stared at the irate martial artist—where had _that_ come from? If she didn't know better (and she didn't) she'd suspect that Akane wasn't just talking about her antagonist from St. Hebereke. "Calm down, Akane. She didn't hurt your sister, did she? You _did_ manage to protect her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So why did you attack the boy?"

"Well, it's just that she made me so mad… she just waltzed right in, and expects everyone to listen to her just because she's got booby trapped gymnastics equipment. I mean, she actually gets offended by the idea that she should face the consequences of her actions—I think she really thought that she could casually accuse me and Nabiki of incest and get away with it."

The nurse's eyes boggled at that. Could anyone really be _that_ insensitive to the feelings of others? _Then again, if anyone can, it_ _ **would**_ _be someone raised by Principal Kuno._

Akane continued on, "So basically, I think that when she realized that she was in trouble, she just hightailed it out of here, and since I can't roof-hop, I couldn't follow. But I was still mad, and that's when I saw Ryoga. If he had just kept his trap shut this whole thing wouldn't have happened—where is he, by the way?"

"He woke up quite a while ago. He asked for directions to the bathroom, but I haven't seen him since—do you suppose something happened?"

Akane sighed. "Yeah, something happened, all right. He got lost. **Again.** "

"Lost? But the men's room is right next door to this one. How could he get lost?"

"I take it you've never met Ryoga." Akane wasn't surprised when the nurse nodded. "Ryoga has the worst sense of direction on the planet. He once got lost for three hours trying to find the exit to a broom closet."

"Why couldn't he find the door?"

"Because he only looked at the walls."

"I don't understand."

"Nobody understands Ryoga's sense of direction, least of all Ryoga." Akane sighed, and decided to change the subject. "Is my sister alright?"

"I think so… though she's been given the day off so she can avoid any more attacks. I understand Ranma is with her for her protection. In fact, I believe I'm supposed to tell you to make sure she gets her homework assignments after school."

"Oh," replied Akane, not sure what to think. "Well, that's good… I guess." She looked at the clock. "I suppose I'd better get back to class, right?"

"Well, you don't seem to have any serious injuries, so I don't see any problem with that."

"Okay."

And so, Akane left to resume her studies, though for the most part, she spent the rest of the day thinking about non-scholastic matters.

Meanwhile…

"Well, so much for keepin' things secret."

"I suppose you're right."

Ranma and Nabiki Saotome had just left the police station, having filed a report of aggravated assault against Kodachi Kuno, and giving an excruciatingly thorough account of the events of that morning. And, as Nabiki predicted, the question of their actual marital status did in fact come up, so as she suggested, they'd been honest. Fortunately, the officer they'd interviewed with had grown up in Nerima and seen the kind of destruction a highly skilled martial artist was capable of when he or she was angry, so he understood why they'd felt the need to keep their marriage secret for Nabiki's safety—even if their plan turned out to be pretty much a total failure in that regard. The interviewer agreed that Akane had likely done nothing wrong, and even if she did, in this context, her punishment would be little more than a slap on the wrist.

Still, whether anything could (or rather _would_ ) be done was unclear. The Nerima police gave a lot of wiggle room to martial artists as far as the law was concerned—but then, that usually only applied to situations where they were attacking each _other_ , and when untrained civilians like Nabiki got involved, that wiggle room was quickly tightened—but Kodachi was a Kuno, and the Kunos had a lot of power in the form of cold, hard cash. Most investigations into their activities were squashed before they had a chance to uncover anything incriminating. But on the other hand—Nabiki had quite a lot of power in the form of favors owed to her by a lot of people, and she seemed more than willing to call these in to make sure that the gymnast would be made to face the consequences of her actions—or at the very least recognize that her actions _did_ have consequences.

But for now, all they could do was wait and see what developed.

"So, what should we do 'til then?" asked Ranma with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, from that smirk of yours, I'm guessing that my opinion won't matter too much, because _you_ are going to be playing with your 'favorite toy.'"

"Huh. I guess I _am_ easy ta read."

"Only because you're a male who's been presented with a prime opportunity to get laid. Am I correct in assuming that you've thought of an appropriate way to deal with my earlier… 'indiscretion'?"

"Um… if yer talkin' 'bout when ya called me 'Master' without yer collar earlier, then, yeah, I have thought of somethin', but I'd rather not explain it here."

"Understandable. Well, I always keep a substantial amount of cash on my person so I can pay off winning bets quickly, so money isn't a problem right now… perhaps we could get a room somewhere?"

"Uh… that's not _quite_ what I was thinkin'…"

Nabiki halted in her tracks. If Ranma wasn't concerned about privacy, then the only explanation _she_ could think of was…

 _Public. He's going to do something in public._

"Hey, Nabiki, what're ya standin' around for? We got stuff ta do."

Nabiki snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, right. Wait up, Ranma!"

Nabiki followed Ranma into a fairly crowded subway station. Naturally, she was curious as to what exactly her owner had planned—though "planned" was probably not a very accurate term, since Ranma was almost certainly improvising this whole thing. Luckily for her, Ranma had specifically stated that when she wasn't wearing her collar, he wanted her to continue using her snarky public persona to avoid suspicion, and thus Nabiki thought that she could get away with some oblique questioning. "So, Ranma, what exactly do you have in store for us?"

Ranma was about to answer, when he remembered that he was in a very public place where he was something of a local celebrity (at least in the martial arts world), and thus he probably couldn't risk talking about sensitive matters like this and calling unwanted attention to himself. Thus, he led his pet to an out-of-the-way niche where the two of them could hopefully talk without having to worry about piquing the curiosity of potential eavesdroppers. "Okay," he said quietly, "remember how I said ya should act normal when ya ain't got yer collar on? No matter what I do ta ya?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, yer about ta find out _why_ I want ya ta do that."

Nabiki's forehead furrowed in thought for a few seconds, but then her Master's meaning suddenly dawned on her. When she looked back at Ranma, she saw that his smirk had morphed into a full-blown grin. "Ranma… you can't mean…"

"We've gotta get out of Nerima for the day, and we're gonna take the first train that leaves, no matter where it's headed. While we're ridin', I'm gonna play with ya again, and we'll get off at the first stop after ya cum. Course, we don't wanna get anyone's attention, so yer gonna have ta control yerself, ya know?"

Nabiki merely nodded her head as her Master spoke. This wasn't _quite_ the same as her fantasy of Ranma parading her around in public as a sex object, but this was probably as close as they could feasibly come to it; not only would that run the risk of being charged with public indecency (and destroying her professional reputation), but she could tell that underneath the bravado that Ranma was showing there was a great deal of nervousness—he was pushing himself to the edge of his sexual "comfort zone" to do this.

Whichever technique he used from that book of his, he'd obviously learned quite a bit about her fantasies, and it was equally obvious that he was doing his best to allow her to realize those fantasies. This lead to a very intriguing question: _Why? Why is he going to all this trouble for me? Is it because he feels guilty about how he learned about my fantasies in the first place? Is it because he gets a kick out of it himself? If not that, then what?_ Nabiki pondered this as the two of them got in line to pay their fares.

Ranma didn't start right away; he had to make sure they would end up a safe distance from Furinkan, after all. Still, after a few stops, there were enough passengers on board so that it would seem unusual for him to press up against her as they stood in the railcar. He made his move when the door closed and the car lurched forward, deftly snaking his hand up her skirt at inserting it down her panties. As the tips of his fingers reached her folds, Nabiki had to remind herself that her Master had given her the responsibility of making sure that no one's suspicions were aroused—which wasn't easy, since Ranma's skill, combined with a setting out of one of her fantasies, was making _Nabiki_ very aroused very quickly. She began breathing heavily through her nose as she stared out of the windows as if there was something to see in the darkness of a subway tunnel.

All appeared to be going well; no one seemed to notice that Ranma had his hand up Nabiki's skirt on the crowded train, and Nabiki was controlling herself very well. It appeared that their little escapade would pay off well, until Ranma noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A hand was moving toward Nabiki's chest, and it was obvious that that hand intended to fondle one of his pet's breasts. _Can't have that…_ _ **I'm**_ _the only one allowed ta do that!_ Without stopping his own fondling, Ranma reached out and firmly grabbed the hand as it was centimeters away from its target. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said loudly, attracting the attention of the other passengers.

The owner of the hand, who was a squat, middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a developing potbelly, just stared at the teenager. He'd been groping cute girls for years now, but this was the first time anyone actively tried to _stop_ him. He became painfully aware of the glares that were directed at him as Ranma continued. "I ain't sure where ya learned yer manners, but I was always told that gropin' a girl in public without her permission wasn't exactly polite." He directed his next question to his companion. "Does he have yer permission?" he asked her with a smirk.

Nabiki couldn't believe that Ranma would have the audacity to chastise a groper while he had his hand down her panties. For a while she stared at him in shock, but her Master snapped her out of it with a subtle tweak of her clitoris. "Well?" he asked again as he increased the intensity of his own ministrations.

Nabiki realized that she'd have to answer; under Ranma's agile finger work, the Ice Queen was melting rapidly. As it was, she had trouble keeping her voice even, and the sensations sparking through her brain interrupted her thought process enough to make it sound like she had a stutter: "N-No. I d-defi **nite** ly d-don't want him **do** ing th-th-tha- **at**."

"Ya see?" Ranma said as he tightened he grip on the groper's wrist, causing him to wince in pain. "It ain't polite ta do that." He started twisting the man's arm as his voice became more venomous. "So unless ya want me ta show ya what happens ta guys who're impolite, I suggest ya keep yer filthy hands ta yourself, **got it?** " The man just whimpered and nodded his head vigorously in response. As Ranma released him, the other passengers started murmuring amongst themselves. A good portion of the train's occupants were office ladies, many of whom had been subjected to the indignity of groping themselves; as one would expect, they were gushing over the gallantry of this young man. There were also a few grumbles of disapproval directed at the (allegedly) excessive force the pigtailed youth had used in his "persuasion," but these mostly came from salarymen who would never have had the courage to stand up for someone else and a few elderly persons who were annoyed that Ranma had called their attention to something that they'd rather pretend didn't exist at all.

Still, all of this mumbling was quite fortunate for Nabiki, because while Ranma was aggressively squeezing and twisting the groper's appendage in one hand, the other had begun to massage her womanhood even more vigorously than it already had been. Even after the creep had slunk away, her Master continued his stroking and kneading, as though he was using her pussy as a stress reliever—which was actually pretty close to reality. The fact that his fingers were by now covered in her wetness simply made it easier for him to increase the intensity, making nearly impossible for his pet to suppress her moans. Thankfully, the murmuring was enough to keep them from being _too_ noticeable, even as Ranma brought her closer and closer to the edge. Nabiki gripped the loop her hand was in even tighter and put her free hand on a pole for extra support. _Control… stay… in… control…_ After her Master's rebuke of that pervert, she couldn't blow it now—it would undermine the moral authority Ranma had used to justify his position.

Ranma didn't let up as he continued working his pet towards her inevitable climax, and very soon all of Nabiki's energy was being spent on maintaining her stone faced exterior while the sensations from her pussy told her that she would be better off slumping to the floor in a twitching pile of orgasms.

Eventually, it was too much for her to take. Fortunately, Nabiki's barely stifled groan as she clamped down on her Master's fingers was covered by the sound of the train screeching to a halt at one of the stops. Ranma removed his hand from under her skirt and gave her one of his trademark smirks. "Well, I guess this is where we get off." Nabiki wasn't certain, but to her ears it sounded like few of the office ladies actually applauded as they exited—though she wasn't entirely sure that that had anything to do with the groper.

"Ah, Shampoo, you've returned. So, have you found out what's going on?"

"No, Great-grandmother. Shampoo go to Furinkan, but Ranma and Mercenary Girl not there."

"What?!" Cologne's eyes got visibly wider as she was suddenly presented with the possibility that the rumors of Ranma's marriage might actually be true. "What happened?"

"Shampoo not sure, but apparently, Crazy Flower Girl hear rumors, attack Mercenary Girl. Kitchen Destroyer defend sister, get even more violent than usual—whole classroom demolished, and baseball field need to be resoded. Ranma and Mercenary Girl leave Furinkan sometime around then."

The Matriarch put her hand to her chin. "Hmm… that makes sense. Son-in-law _would_ want to protect Nabiki from some of his more aggressive suitors." _Including my great-granddaughter,_ she silently admitted to herself. _No, make that_ _ **especially**_ _my great-granddaughter._ This was not good—something big had happened, and she didn't have any clue what the real story was. And when one doesn't know the facts, one can't make a good decision. "We need to find Son-in-law. **Now.** "

"What we going to do about Mercenary Girl?"

"Don't worry about her just yet, Shampoo. Right now, we need to find out what's really going on, and I have a feeling that only Ranma can tell us that. But where is he?"

Nabiki smirked to herself as she and her Master emerged from the station and saw the view before her. She hadn't been trying to hold off her orgasm until they reached a specific stop, but one could easily think that, given their current location. No one would _ever_ think to look for them…

Ranma looked at the sign outside of the building. "'The Law Offices of Yugemi Aitsu, Attorney-at-law.' What makes ya think we should spend time here, Nabiki?"

"Well, Ranma, we _are_ probably going to need a lawyer, considering that I've already filed charges against Kodachi—and I might want to file a civil suit as well."

"Oh. I see… I think…"

"In addition, I was thinking we could…" here Nabiki whispered into Ranma's ear, causing him to turn bright red. "That is, if it's all right with you."

"Huh? Oh, sure, I guess. I'm just amazed that ya can make all this boring legal stuff seem so…"

"Erotic?" finished Nabiki.

"Yeah."

"Okay, then we'll see if we can have that done… but first, we need to find out if we need to schedule an appointment, or if Ms. Aitsu accepts walk-ins."

In fact, Yugemi Aitsu did not usually accept walk-ins, but as she fortuitously didn't have anything scheduled for the next hour or two (and because Nabiki's name had come up several times in conversations with her Neriman colleagues and clients) she was willing to hear what the couple had to say.

Technically, though, the conversation was more about what _Nabiki_ had to say—Ranma's contributions were mostly limited to monosyllabic corroborations of the significant details of Nabiki's story. It was pretty boring, actually—mostly a repeat of what had already been said at the police station, and he had two major distractions to divert his attention.

The first of these was Yugemi Aitsu—or rather, Yugemi Aitsu's body. Even though she was dressed fairly conservatively, it was rather obvious that she was such stuff as wet dreams were made on, with large breasts (though not too big for a handful), a slim waist, and long, athletic lags. Her face was classically beautiful, managing to simultaneously convey a sense of firmness and softness, and was topped off with long, wavy, light brown hair. Ranma had to make a concerted effort to keep from staring, and he wasn't totally sure that he succeeded.

The other distraction was the subway incident—while it was a bit of a thrill, Ranma had had to turn the Soul of Ice technique up to full blast, especially when that damned groper tried to squeeze his pet's breasts. If he had been thinking clearly, he might have just let the pervert do what he wanted—he nearly lost it while he was dressing the guy down—but really, he couldn't do that. Nabiki's status may have been somewhere between a possession and a person, but either way, she was precious to Ranma, and he felt that it was his job to protect her.

Ranma's attention was brought back to the present as the discussion closed. "Well, I think you may indeed have a case—though if the Kuno family is as influential as you imply, it won't be easy—nor will it be cheap. Due to the circumstances, I'm willing to partially waive my usual fees in return for a slightly greater percentage of any financial settlements, but I'm not going to work on a contingency basis. I hate to sound like a stereotypical lawyer, but how exactly do you plan to pay me?"

Once again, Nabiki answered. "The Tendo family is fairly well-off itself—not nearly as much as the Kunos, mind you, but enough that we should be able to afford your services, though we might have to cut back a little." She glanced at her spouse.

"Hey, it's all right with me… between you and Kasumi, I'm sure ya can stretch out every yen ya can."

"Who's Kasumi?"

"My older sister. The one who saved me from Kodachi is Akane."

"Ah. Well, then, will there be anything else?"

"Well…" mused Nabiki as she remembered the suggestion she'd made outside, "there _is_ something…"

"And are you going to tell me what this 'something' is?"

"Well… anything we say in here _is_ protected under attorney-client privilege, right?"

"Of course."

"I thought as much," replied Nabiki, who was clearly looking for the most tactful way to put this. "You see—"

Here she was interrupted by Ranma, who'd decided that it just wouldn't be right for his pet to bring up _this_ particular subject. "We're really inta Dominance an' submission, an' other stuff like that, and we sorta wanted ta know if ya could go over this contract we drew up." Nabiki's eyes grew wide at this, not because her Master had been so blunt (quite frankly, it was probably the best way to address this issue) but rather because she'd expected him to be too nervous to bring this up.

Their lawyer cocked an eyebrow, and then softly chuckled to herself. "Let me guess. You're the top, and she's the bottom."

"Huh?"

Yugemi's eyes were practically sparkling. "You're the Dominant one, and she's submissive, correct?"

"Oh, uh, yeah—but we, uh, kinda prefer 'owner' and 'pet,'" Ranma managed to sputter out. "Uh, how'd ya know?"

"Just a hunch based on experience—though the fact that she kept deferring to you for all of the important details in your story was a rather notable hint."

"Uh, experience?"

Yugemi chuckled again. "How exactly did you find my office?"

Ranma was rather confused by the strange turn this conversation had taken "Well, we, uh, didn't exactly _find_ ya… um, Nabiki?" He looked toward his pet, his features clearly asking her to explain this.

Nabiki sighed and tried not to blush as she related the story. "We just wanted to get out of Nerima, so we hopped on first subway we could. Ranma then fondled me until I orgasmed, and we got off at the next stop after that, which just happened to be in Shinjuku. Your office was one of the first things we saw, and since we knew we'd need legal help (preferably from someone _not_ from Nerima), we came in and asked if we could see you."

"Hmm… you're calling him by his real name? No titles?"

"That's what he wants me to do when I'm not wearing my collar—he's pretty insistent on it."

"I see…"

"Uh, excuse me," said Ranma, "but what the heck's goin' on?"

"Well, it seems that fate has led you into a very auspicious position—your arbitrary choice of a lawyer just so happens to be someone sympathetic to your situation."

"Ya mean…"

"Yes, I've been actively participating in that lifestyle for a few years now. In case you were wondering, I'm a Domme, and I've had relationships with both male and female submissive—though I'd characterize those relationships as 'mistress-slave' rather than 'owner-pet.'"

"Oh…" The Saotomes were rendered silent by this revelation; clearly, they had not expected _this_ when they entered the lawyer's office.

"Now, am I right in assuming that you're both relatively inexperienced with this sort of thing?"

The two of them nodded.

"Then I must say I'm impressed that you had the prescience of mind to decide to use a contract—and even more so that you'd consult an attorney about it."

"Um, thanks, I guess."

"Now, I assume that since this visit was unplanned, you don't have your existing copy with you, so why don't you give me a general idea of its contents."

The couple proceeded to do so, but they didn't get very far before the attorney's demeanor changed from "pleasant" to "shocked."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up! I know novices can be enthusiastic, but not having a safe-word? That's something _I_ wouldn't be willing to do, and I'm willing to go pretty far."

Nabiki sighed. "Look, I know it seems a little extreme, but we know what we're doing…"

"I highly doubt that. Listen, activity in the BDSM community basically boils down to three things: safe, sane, and consensual. What you are proposing is neither safe nor sane."

"Look, I know it seems that way, but you just don't understand the way my mind works. I'm a natural schemer—put me in any situation with structured rules and I'll try and find a way to manipulate those rules to get what I want. I don't even try to do it; it just happens on its own. Hell, before our relationship started, I fleeced, conned and otherwise manipulated Ranma pretty much 24/7. And I— I don't want to do that to him anymore. But if I have _any_ control in this, I know that I will—the habit's that strong." It almost looked like Nabiki's eyes were starting to water near the end of her plea—and she wasn't one to use crocodile tears.

Yugemi was silent for a few minutes as she pondered the pet's words. "Ranma, what do you think of all this."

"Me? Well, it's pretty good, I guess. I mean, I like ownin' Nabiki—a lot. I'd never wanna do anythin' ta hurt her…"

Their lawyer responded to this with several more minutes of pensive silence, interrupted only by the ticking of the clock. Finally, she looked up at Ranma. "What if I wrote up a new contract for the two of you, and worded this one so that you were culpable for her well-being?"

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Basically, it means that if she is somehow injured during one of your scenarios, you will be held legally responsible, and will therefore be required to pay for any bills for medical care or therapy—and this extends to mental trauma as well as physical. How does that sound?"

"Yeah… that sounds good." For the first time since the discussion of the contract began, Ranma actually looked relieved.

This left his pet rather confused. "Wait, you _want_ your power to be restricted?"

"My dear, there is such a thing as having _too much_ power—while I'm sure your owner appreciates everything you're willing to give him, and I think I understand why you want to give him so much, but he'd probably feel more comfortable knowing that there's _something_ to keep him in check—to keep him from becoming careless in the way he treats you. And it has to be something more than the threat of you ending the relationship, since that won't help if he suddenly becomes dangerously impulsive. _That's_ why your original contract needs to be replaced. Do you understand?"

"I think so…" Somehow, it hadn't really occurred to Nabiki that a Dominant _could_ have more power than he or she could handle in a D/s relationship—though it probably should have. After all, people could become corrupted by power in other contexts; why not this one?

"Don't worry about it too much—after all, it's not that different from the way non-human pets are treated; the only difference is that as a human, the consequences for harming you are much more severe. In addition, there's also the legal responsibilities he has as your spouse." Yugemi folded her hands on her desk. "Well, will that be all, or is there anything else you need to put in this contract?"

"Well, now that ya mention it, there is somethin' _else_ ya might need ta know… actually, ya probably should know about this, even if it don't have nothin' ta do with the contract, but ya sorta have ta see it ta believe it."

A bemused grin grew on Yugemi's face; she had seen quite a bit, both in her capacity as an attorney, as well as in her private life, and she doubted these teenagers could show her anything she'd find surprising. Still, her next client wasn't scheduled to arrive for a hour, so she decided to humor them. "All right."

"Um, I'll need some hot and cold water…"

Their attorney wasn't quite sure what they meant, but she didn't see any harm in this. In fact… "The water cooler in the lobby dispenses both kinds—Nabiki, why don't you go get it? That way, your owner and I can have a little 'Dom to Domme' conversation."

Nabiki looked a little surprised, but she nodded and headed for the door.

Ranma was equally unsure about what was going on. "Alright, she's gone. So, what did ya wanna talk about?"

Ranma turned back to his attorney as his pet left the room. "Okay, so what exactly did ya wanna talk about?"

"Nothing much—just some friendly advice, that's all."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at that. "That's _all_?"

Yugemi smirked at her client's disbelief. "Don't get me wrong, I would like nothing more than to try and convince a good-looking young man like you to let me _show_ you some of the more… interesting aspects of this lifestyle, but I try to keep my relationships with my clients relatively professional."

"Oh."

"But I do think you need to listen to my advice—Ranma, you're an inexperienced Dom who's been given a lot more power than most people can handle, even with this revised version of your contract with Nabiki that I'm drawing up for you. If you aren't careful, it could all end up in disaster."

"I know; I'm gonna make sure nuthin' happens ta Nabiki."

"I don't doubt that, but that's not quite what I meant."

"Huh?"

"Don't get me wrong, it's commendable that you're so concerned with Nabiki's well-being, but you also need to make sure that you're getting what _you_ need out of this relationship. Tell me, have you ever done anything with her that was solely for your own enjoyment? Completely ignoring the idea of mutual gratification?"

"Uh, no…"

"Have you ever _wanted_ to do that?"

"I…" Ranma was looking quite flustered.

"It's all right, Ranma. You can be perfectly honest—after all, I'm hardly in a position to be judgmental."

"Well, maybe… sometimes… especially before, when she used ta treat me like crap, invadin' my privacy an' takin' photographs ta sell ta students at Furinkan, or ripping me off of every yen I had… yeah, I guess there have been times when I've wanted ta… ta…"

"To _use_ her?" Ranma blushed heavily as he nodded, prompting a warm smile from Yegumi. "Ranma, there's nothing to be ashamed of in wanting to use someone who wants to be used—even more so for someone who's gone out of her way to make sure you _can_ use her without ever having to worry about legal repercussions. You're probably nervous about having all of this responsibility thrust upon you; I know I felt that way when I was first exploring this lifestyle. But you can't focus solely on those responsibilities, or you won't be satisfied with your relationship, and neither will Nabiki."

"What do ya mean by that?"

"Once you get beyond the roleplaying stage—and you two are already light-years beyond it—you'll find that quite a few subs gain a great deal of pleasure simply from knowing that they're pleasing their Masters or Mistresses, and in my opinion, a sub would have to be insane to insist on not using a safe-word if he or she didn't feel that way. And your pet is definitely not insane."

"Oh…"

"Trust me, Ranma. She expects you to do that sort of thing occasionally—she wants to be a source of pleasure for you, not a burden. It doesn't have to be that often, or even that complicated—just pulling her aside and telling her to shut up while you have a quickie every now and again will go a long way towards showing that she exists **for you**. And remember, she _wants_ you to treat her that way."

Ranma noticed the way his attorney's statements echoed what Nabiki had said when she drew up that first contract the previous day— _It's only been a day?_ Ranma idly wondered. Glancing at the clock, he realized that had only been about 24 hours since he and Nabiki had decided to pursue this. It seemed like it had been a lot longer. Shaking that off, he returned to the subject at hand. "But… what if she decides doesn't like it, and changes her mind and cancels this whole thing? I don't wanna lose her…"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"How do ya know?"

"Ranma, I may not have known Nabiki as long as you have, but I'm very good at reading people—it's a skill that I use time and again in this job. And from my observations of her, I think her analysis of her own needs is more than likely correct. She seems much more aware of her own shortcomings than most people, and I think she sincerely believes that doing this is the only way she can stop herself from hurting you."

"Um, what does that mean?"

"It means that she's trying to protect you from her darker side by giving you the ability to subdue it whenever it rears its ugly head. She's putting her Master's well-being before her own."

"Really? I thought this whole submission thing was about sex."

"That's part of it. I'm sure Nabiki would have never even suggested this if she wasn't incredibly turned on by the idea of being made to submit to you no matter what the context might be. But I doubt she would have gone _this_ far if there wasn't something more at work here. In other words, I think she's in love with you, Ranma, or at the very least, she's in the process of falling in love with you. She may not realize it yet, but your pet is far too level-headed to do something like this with nothing but lust as a motivation. The question is, how do _you_ feel about _her_?"

"I… I don't know. I know that I _like_ her—I always have, sorta, even when she was treatin' me like crap. An' I know I wanna protect her—I ain't a total idiot, an I know that it'll ruin her reputation if folks find out that she, uh, acts that way, ya know? But I ain't really sure…"

"What you've just described sounds like love, or at least the beginnings of it."

"But ya don't understand! Nabiki ain't the first person I've felt this way about; I feel that way about all of the girls my idiot Pops has hooked me up with—especially Akane…."

"Nabiki's sister?"

"Yeah… I… I don't know what ta do about any of them."

"Well, I can't really help you there—though I might be able to help you sort out some of the entanglements your father foisted on you. And on a less professional level, I'm willing to lend an ear whenever you need to talk about anything that you don't feel comfortable discussing with your pet—and when I say anything, I mean _anything_ , whether or not it's directly or even indirectly related to BDSM." She took out a business card and scribbled something on the back before handing it to Ranma. "That's my personal number—I think I can trust you not to abuse it."

"Um, thanks—thanks a lot," said Ranma with genuine gratitude as he took the card in his hand. "But there's one thing I don't understand… why are ya goin' ta all this trouble for me? I mean, we just met…"

"You know, I'm not sure I understand why I'm doing this either—maybe it's because you're one of the few people I've met who's entered this lifestyle with so few of the typical misconceptions about it—I don't want to see your relationship suffer by allowing any to creep in."

"Oh. Thank you."

Yugemi would have answered her client, but there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's just me," came Nabiki's muffled voice.

Ranma got up and opened the door to let his pet back into Yugemi's office, and Nabiki entered with two cups, one filled with hot water, and one with cold. Their attorney's eyebrow was cocked as she looked at containers of liquid. "Okay, what strange thing do I need to see that requires two cups of water?"

"Well… this," replied Ranma, who then picked up the cup of cold water and overturned it onto his head.

Yugemi simply stared as Ranma morphed from a young man with rakish good looks to a redheaded young woman with a figure to die for—or at the very least, to spend a few weeks in the Intensive Care Unit of a nearby hospital for. Her colleagues in Nerima often said that things sometimes happened there that had to be seen to be believed—though right now, despite the fact that she had seen her client undergo this transformation, she was still hesitant to believe it. "R-Ranma? Is that really you?"

"Um, yeah, I'm Ranma. Ya see, I have this curse…." Ranma again related her well-rehearsed curse acquisition narrative.

This, in turn, gave Yugemi the chance to calm down a bit. The redhead in front of her had mannerisms that were almost exactly the same as Ranma's—really subtle things that were difficult to copy. There really was no other conclusion she could come to other that this _was_ Ranma—and though she was normally skeptical of magic as an explanation for anything, the fact was that there didn't seem to be any way that one of Ranma's forms could be a disguise—at least not one that someone could change in or out of _that_ quickly. Still….

Yugemi glanced at Ranma-chan's chest. "Are those…"

"Real? Yeah, they are, and they're a real pain in the ass sometimes; they can totally screw up my balance when I'm in the middle of somethin' and I don't see the cold water comin', especially since I can't exactly wear a bra."

"But… magic?"

Ranma just sighed, picked up the cup of hot water, and walked closer to the attorney. "Here," she said, picking up Yugemi's hand and placing it on one of her breasts, which almost sent the lawyer into a different sort of shock. The reasons behind Ranma's actions became clear, however, when Ranma dumped the hot water over her, and the soft breast morphed into a firm pectoral muscle right underneath her hand.

"Holy shit, this curse stuff is real."

"Ya think I'd make this up?"

"No… not really…"

"Anyway," said Nabiki, "it's important that you know that short redheaded girl named Ranma Saotome you can sometimes find around Nerima is the same person as _this_ Ranma Saotome. I don't know if that will have an effect on the contract…"

Yugemi was still distracted by what she'd seen (though now she was having pangs of regret telling Ranma about her policy of maintaining "professional relationships" with her clients—let's face it, for a bisexual person, particularly one as sexually active as she was, a good looking guy who turns into a good looking girl with the application of water has quite a few implications for the bedroom), which was why she sounded a bit out of it when she replied. "Uh… no… I don't think it will be a problem… though I _am_ glad you told me about this."

"Um, yeah… just keep it secret, okay? My mom doesn't know about it yet, and I don't wanna take any chances with that seppuku contract of hers."

Yugemi snapped back to attention at this. "Seppuku contract?"

"Yeah, when I was six, Pops took me on a ten-year trainin' trip, but before we left, me an' him signed a contract that said if I wasn't a 'man among men' when we returned, we'd both commit ritual suicide."

 _Six years old? How can_ _ **anyone**_ _be expected to honor a contract they signed when they were six years old?_ "Can you get a copy of that contract for me? I think I _really_ need to look over that one."

"It shouldn't be a problem," said Nabiki. "I'll ask her to bring it the next time she comes over."

"And I suppose Ranma will spend most of the time avoiding cold water?"

"Uh… no… that's too risky. It's a lot easier ta avoid hot water, so… I just pretend ta be the Tendos' cousin Ranko. Mom's… never met me as a guy yet—all she knows about 'Ranma' is that he ain't dead."

"I… see… I'm sorry…"

"Ah, don't worry about it—I've kinda gotten used to it." Even as he said it, it was blatantly obvious to everyone in the room that wasn't an iota of truth in that statement.

"Well," said Yugemi, sensing that now would be a good time to wrap things up, "if there's no further business, I suppose we can conclude this meeting. Talk with my secretary, and she'll set up your next appointment."

The couple simply nodded in reply.

At most schools, having an entire classroom obliterated in a blaze of righteous indignation would be grounds for letting the students leave home early. Furinkan was not most schools—in fact, the policy was to always have several empty classrooms available for this very reason. Thus, classes continued, though without Ranma or Nabiki, which naturally made the student body suspicious, though some of those inquiring minds had more legitimate reasons to be concerned with Ranma's personal life than others. Ukyo Kuonji fell squarely into the former group.

She didn't know what was going on, but she had a sneaking suspicion that whatever it was, it was bad news for her planned future with Ranchan. Unfortunately, there was only one person who was available that she could get _any_ information from, and Akane was, not surprisingly, still in a funk. As such, she had to be approached as one would an angry dog on a chain—with extreme caution.

Thus, when lunch rolled around, Ukyo did not set up her portable okonomiyaki grill, but instead made her way towards her brooding classmate, who was, not surprisingly, eating alone today. "Akane?"

The youngest Tendo surmised what the chef was trying to do immediately, and decided that she would have none of it. "I don't want to talk about it, Ukyo."

This wasn't much of a surprise—in fact, Ukyo had expected this sort of reaction. Keeping her hands near her throwing spatulas (just in case), she replied, "Even if you don't want to talk about it, if something's going on with Ranchan, I'll have to know sooner or later."

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"Because if my instinct is correct, and whatever is going on with Ranchan could change my relationship with him, then this _is_ my business."

Akane was silent—she wasn't sure how to handle Ukyo. On the one hand, she wanted to at least _try_ to keep this quiet, but on the other, Ukyo's relationship with Ranma was never going to be the same after she found out about his marriage—and she really did need to know, thanks to that engagement of hers. Still, she had to find some way to keep it under wraps.

"Not right now… maybe later. After school. What time does Ucchan's open?"

"Normally, about fifteen minutes after I get there. I'll make an exception for today."

"Alright." At least this gave her a few more hours to figure out what to do.

"So, Son-in-law isn't at any of his usual haunts?" It wasn't much of a surprise—Cologne didn't really expect to find him in any of the usual places.

"No, and Mercenary Girl not anywhere either." Shampoo was becoming frazzled—the possibility that _Nabiki_ might be the one to wind up with Ranma had quite frankly never crossed her mind.

"Calm down, Shampoo. We'll figure out what's going on—perhaps Akane knows something."

"Why Kitchen Destroyer help Shampoo?" After all, if the rumors _were_ true, that truly made her sister an obstacle. And obstacles were for killing, especially when they were presumptuous enough to try to marry an Amazon's husband without any regard for their customs.

"Do we have any other leads?"

"No…"

"Then I suggest you talk to her—and try to be respectful, Shampoo. She's the only chance we have to find out anything, and now is not the time to be getting on her bad side."

Shampoo's shoulders sagged—it would have been so much easier to just threaten and pummel the information out of the youngest Tendo, but for some reason, Cologne didn't want her to use her superiority in combat, and she couldn't figure out why. "Yes, Great Grandmother." The teenaged Amazon turned an exited the Nekohanten without much enthusiasm.

Cologne just massaged her temples—it seemed that her day was getting more stressful by the minute.

Ranma had a lot on his mind as he and his spouse/pet exited their attorney's office, and said pet could tell. "Is something wrong, Ranma?"

"Uh, no… why would ya think there was?"

"Well, you seem lost in thought, that's all."

"Oh. Well, I guess I am. It, uh, has ta do with something me an' Ms. Aitsu were talkin' about while ya were gone."

"Ah. And can you tell me about it, or was the subject of the discussion inappropriate for a sub's ears?"

"Um, not really, but…"

"…but you wouldn't want to discuss it in public?"

"Yeah, but probably not for the reason ya'd think."

"So it wasn't about sex."

"Not specifically, no."

"Oh, so it has something to do with your emotions, then."

Ranma boggled at this. "How'd ya figure _that_ out?"

Nabiki smirked at her owner. "Ranma, over the past few months, I've made it my business to know everything about you—literally, considering how much people are willing to pay for information about you."

"Uh… yeah… about that…"

"I know, you don't want me to do that anymore, and I won't. I meant what I said back there. I don't want to hurt you anymore, and in order to do that, I had to completely remove my _ability_ to hurt you in any way."

"So, yer sayin' that ya got nuthin' ya can hurt me with now?"

"Beyond ending the relationship and that loophole we're putting in the contract for my safety? No. Not that I can think of…" But as soon as she said it, the 'Ice Queen' part of her mind started going over the events of the last week, looking for anything she could exploit, simply out of habit….

Ranma recognized the look on Nabiki's face all too well, even though this time it was combined with a distinct look of worry. "Ya just thought of somethin', didn't ya?"

"Well, yes. Yes, I did."

"What is it?"

"It has to do with legal matters concerning our relationship."

"Should we go back ta Ms. Aitsu's?"

"No… I don't think so. In fact, I think it would probably be best if we _didn't_ have her get involved in this _because_ she's a lawyer."

"What do ya mean?"

"I think this is something we need to talk about in private."

"So, ya wanna wait 'til we get home or somethin'?"

"If I were any other person, we could do that, but I don't want to put you at the mercy of the Ice Queen again. We need to take care of this _now_."

"Okay… where should we go?"

Nabiki thought about it for a few seconds, and then she realized that there was a type of place where one could be reasonably assured of one's privacy, and it was particularly common in a certain part of Shinjuku. "Follow me."

"Where are we goin'?"

"Kabukicho."

"What are we gonna do there?"

"What I suggested when we first left Furinkan."

Ranma wasn't too surprised when he realized that his pet intended for them to go to a love hotel. After all, they _were_ reasonably private and after their little adventure on the train, he was hardly in the mood for more sex in public, anyway. No, what surprised him was that Nabiki was able to find such a good deal for one. Granted, he didn't know that much about standard rates for love hotels to begin with, and as Nabiki pointed out, these _were_ the off-hours, so they could get a much lower price, but this place looked like it was pretty upscale, and Nabiki had said that she'd gotten them a "premium" room for several hours. But Ranma's pet was currently wearing a smirk that said "I just made an absolutely killer deal," and he wasn't about to question his pet when it came to finances, though he did have a question for her as the hotel's proprietor led them towards their room.

"How the heck do ya do that?"

"Do what?"

"Find all these special deals an' stuff?"

"When your life revolves around the making and keeping of money, you learn to sniff them out."

"That's it?"

"That, and I network."

Ranma would have asked what "networking" was, but the proprietor stopped in front of a door (which was, like all the others in the building, conspicuously nondescript). "Here you are. Everything's been cleaned and sanitized since the last patrons were here, so you won't have to worry about anyone else's mess while you're making your own."

"Thank you," said Nabiki as she accepted the key.

"Enjoy yourselves."

"We will," she replied as the proprietor walked away. "Well, Ranma. Shall we go in?"

The martial artist nodded to his pet as she slowly opened the door, revealing…

What immediately struck Ranma upon his first look into their room was the color red—the room was filled with it. Not that everything was a uniform fire engine red or anything like that; in fact, there was a variety of reds throughout the room, varying in intensity as well as hue. But still, almost everything was some shade of red, from the walls to the carpet to the huge bed and the large cushions sporadically (yet aesthetically) strewn about the floor. Even the filters on the lights seemed to be slightly reddish, though that might have been Ranma's imagination.

"The clerk said this room was called the Red Room," Nabiki said as she entered the room.

"No kiddin'," Ranma replied, following his pet. "Is there anythin' in here that _ain't_ red?"

"Well, the wood that makes up the bed frame is brown… albeit a very reddish brown."

"Huh," Ranma grunted absently. "At least it ain't too bad on the eyes."

"Well, the variation in color probably takes care of that."

"Why would they make a room that has all red? I mean, I like the color, obviously, but ta make it the theme of a room?"

"Well, red _is_ associated with passion in a lot of cultures. Also, when rooms are decorated like this, it tends to draw the eye toward things that stand out… like a person's partner."

"Uh, my shirt don't exactly stand out against all this red."

"Then I suppose you'll have to remove it if you want to be noticed," Nabiki said slyly.

Ranma finally caught on. "Oh. Like that." Just the suggestion was starting to get his imagination fired up… but that could wait until later. There were other things to take care of, the first of which was physical. "Is there a bathroom in here? I gotta go."

"It's probably behind that red door."

"Which red door?"

"The one we didn't come through to enter this room."

"Which one is that?"

"Uh…"

"Ya don't know, do ya?"

Nabiki looked a little consternated at her confusion. "It's nothing that can't be solved by trial and error."

This method proved effective in finding the door desired, though that, too, had its own surprise (though it probably shouldn't have been).

"Holy crap, it's red in here, too!" The bathroom was a bit more uniform in its use of the color scheme, having been tiled in a bold vermilion all over the floor and the walls, including the Western shower stall. The sinks and toilet were the same shade as well. In fact, the only thing that broke up all the redness was the white grouting that separated the tiles. "Whoa, when they pick a theme, they really run with it."

"Well, these rooms aren't meant to actually be _lived_ in."

"Good point."

"Don't you have some 'business' to attend to?"

Ranma blushed. "Oh, yeah."

Akane sighed. She should have known that something was up when Shampoo actually _knocked_ on the door of her classroom and even turned the doorknob to enter. It was probably the shock of this (in addition to the fact that Shampoo was third insanely powerful visitor that Furinkan had received that day) that convinced Akane's history teacher to let the Amazon speak with her rival (as far as she knew) for Ranma's affections, provided that no one made a disturbance.

As Akane expected, Shampoo wanted information about the rumors swirling around Ranma and Nabiki, which was quite simply a subject that she didn't want to address unless she absolutely _had_ to. "Shampoo, I… I can't really talk about this right now. I've got too much other stuff to worry about at the moment."

"Then Akane really _do_ know what is going on."

The youngest Tendo would have slapped her forehead if the weariness of the day allowed her any energy for nonessential actions. _Ugh. I keep forgetting that she's not_ _ **really**_ _as dumb as she acts._ "Look, I need to talk to Nabiki about a few things myself, alright? I really doubt I could help you all that much right now."

Shampoo didn't say anything, but from the expression on her face it was clear that she did not think that Akane had given an acceptable response.

"I promise, as soon as I'm confident that I can actually answer any questions you might have, I'll pay a visit to the Nekohanten, okay? But right now, I have other things on my mind. Like my education, for instance. So why don't you just go back to Cologne and tell her to get off my back for a while."

Shampoo bristled at the Kitchen Destroyer's casual insult of her great-grandmother. Didn't she know the consequences of angering an Amazon by now? In fact, if it hadn't been on Cologne's insistence that she not cause a scene, she would have attacked Akane then and there for her insolence. But such an action would pale in comparison to an Amazon disregarding the instructions of her Matriarch, which simply screamed impudence.

"You tell Shampoo eventually."

"Maybe. But not now." Akane was just plain too tired to give a rat's ass about the Amazon's scare tactics. She didn't even wait for Shampoo to respond before she headed back into the classroom.

 _This is not good,_ Shampoo thought to herself. _I need to talk to Great-grandmother._

Once Ranma had finished his business (and conducted an experiment with cold water that proved that his female form's ultra-bright red hair _still_ managed to stand out in the distinctively monochromatic room), Nabiki moved to more enjoyable topics. "So, Ranma, what should we do first? Or more specifically, _how_ do you want to do it first?"

"Uh, before we do any of that, didn't ya have somethin' ta tell me? Ta make sure ya couldn't hurt me?"

"Oh… yes… you're right…." Now that the time had come, Nabiki was beginning to get really apprehensive about revealing that her Master's secret wasn't nearly as secret as he thought. _Maybe I don't_ _ **really**_ _need to tell him_ ….

"Hey, if ya don't wanna tell me, that's all right—"

That did it. If she didn't tell him now, she'd surely take him up on his offer and would likely never tell him until she was in a position where she could ruin his life. "No, Ranma, I need to tell you this. **Now.** And this is likely to be a 'keep the collar off so you know I'm serious' kind of thing."

"Uh, okay…" Ranma was a little confused, but he also knew that his pet usually knew what she was doing in matters like these, so he urged her to continue. "What is it?"

Nabiki let off a heavy sigh before she began. "There's no easy way to gradually build up to this, so I'm going to take a page from your book and just be blunt: I found your book when I was snooping around in your room after our first encounter."

This had Ranma more confused than anything else. "Huh? Whaddya mean?"

"I mean The Master's Way With the Opposite Gender, the book where you obviously learned almost everything you know about sex, and where you learned some rather invasive and most likely illegal ways to learn the nature of a woman's fantasies. And considering your dearth of traditional investigative skills, as well as your inability to evaluate human behavior that doesn't involve beating the crap out of one's opponent, I can only assume that you used one of those techniques on me, because there is no way I would have _ever_ let _anyone_ know about my submissive fantasies of my own free will—least of all you."

That was a very large chunk of information for Ranma to take in, but when he finally figured out the implications of what Nabiki had said, he immediately went on the defensive. "Look… I… I know it looks bad, but… but… I was just… I'm sorry. I really am. I… I wasn't thinkin', okay? It was just supposed ta be a test, ya know? Ta figure out if what the book said was true—if I'd known it'd work as well as it did—"

"Ranma," Nabiki interrupted. "You seem to be forgetting that I found that book _before_ I made the offer to become your pet. I think it's safe to say that I'd already decided to forgive you."

Ranma returned to being confused, which, while not an ideal situation, was a lot better than the mix of panic and guilt he'd been feeling ten seconds before. "Huh?"

"Ranma, you don't need to worry about legal problems from whatever you did—at least, you _shouldn't_. Really, I'm glad that found out everything that you did, otherwise I'd have just dismissed my fantasies as bizarre daydreams that couldn't possibly have any positive effect on my life."

Her Master nodded as glimmers of comprehension began to appear. "I think I understand… but why'd ya have ta tell me?"

"Several reasons. First of all, I don't want you to feel guilty about it. In the week since you turned me into a dog-girl, I've become convinced that it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and I'm far too pragmatic to want you punished for improving the quality of my life. But more importantly, I don't want to be able to hold this over your head."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Ranma, if I kept quiet about this, I'd eventually use it to try and manipulate you into doing whatever I want—which sort of turns the whole point of this owner-pet arrangement on its head. But if you know that I know, and you already know what my real opinion about it is, then I won't be able to dangle the possibility of forgiveness in front of you like a carrot on a stick. Do you understand me?"

"Uh… kinda, I think. Yer afraid of slippin' up an' goin' back to the way things were before, right?"

"It's not just that—it's because… it's because you'd get hurt. By me. And you'd let me do it to you without any objection. At best, you'd be miserable and guilt-ridden for the rest of your life, continually kowtowing to my demands in some misguided effort to 'make up' for what you did. And… and I don't want to see you like that. So I'm doing everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Ranma mulled this over for a bit before responding, "So, basically, this is about protectin' me from the Ice Queen?"

Nabiki nodded silently. She then gave a mild start when her Master suddenly embraced her.

"Thanks," Ranma said quietly into her ear. "That… means a lot ta me."

"It's the least I can do."

"But… just how _do_ I keep ya from tryin' ta take advantage of this?"

"Simple. Make another rule for our relationship."

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that if I slip up and even hint at anything that sounds like manipulation, there has to be consequences—and not the fun kind, either. I'm talking negative reinforcement, here. Something that I definitely _won't_ enjoy."

"I dunno… that sounds real harsh…."

"Well, I can be really harsh when I let the Ice Queen out—you of all people should know that."

"Yeah… ya got that right."

Several awkward seconds of silence passed between the pair before Ranma spoke up again. "Well, I guess I can figure out the specifics of all that later; so if that's all ya got ta say"—a quick glance confirmed that this was the truth—"…we might as well start usin' this room for its intended purpose. Do ya have the collar with ya?"

"Of course."

"Well, then I think ya should go in the bathroom, put it on, an' take everything else off. And while yer at it, ya might wanna clean up just a bit—I don't think ya've even had a chance ta do that since the train. At least, not very well. By the time ya take care of that, I'll probably be able ta decide what we oughta do."

"That sounds like a plan."

While his pet prepared herself, Ranma was dealing with a sudden bout of… well, "Master's block" might be the best way to describe it. He knew he wanted this next session of lovemaking to be special, since their afternoon in a love hotel was likely to be as close as they'd ever get to a honeymoon. But for the life of him, he couldn't think of what to do beyond that.

Seeking inspiration, he thought back to the conversation he'd had in his attorney's office. _"You need to make sure that you're getting what_ _ **you**_ _need out of this relationship."_ Ranma was pretty sure Yugemi had said something like that—he was certain that he'd gotten the content of the message right, anyway. And the more he thought about it, the more he had to agree with her point: up to this point, Ranma had been placing Nabiki's needs above his own for the most part, and even though he usually enjoyed meeting those needs, that enjoyment was just an agreeable consequence, rather than an end in itself. Basically, so far it had been Ranma doing most of the giving—and even he could tell that one sided relationships like that rarely did well in the long run. He had to take his lawyer's advice—and this was a perfect opportunity.

Or rather, it _would_ have been a perfect opportunity if he could figure out just what his needs were. It was so much easier to just focus on meeting Nabiki's needs, which had been spelled out so clearly while she was under the Babble Point's influence. Besides, by putting her needs first, he made even less likely that she'd try and do something behind his back….

Ranma was brought back to reality by a sudden epiphany: that was it—his conception of his pet was still tied to the "old" Nabiki, to her Ice Queen persona, whom she'd just said she wanted to protect him from. But the fact was that Ranma had been burned too many times in the past to just accept this at face value—sure, he _wanted_ to, but for all he knew, this whole thing was just a sham so that Nabiki could extort him even more later, or perhaps she was just manipulating him so that she could fulfill her own submissive fantasies without actually giving up a significant amount of control. Ranma needed his pet to do _something_ for him that could prove this notion wrong, at least in his mind.

 _It's gotta be somethin' that she wouldn't do if I didn't tell her… but it can't be a total turn-off either, 'cuz she thinks I oughta save stuff like that fer when she's_ _ **really**_ _bad… an' on top of that, it's gotta be somethin' I know_ _ **I'll**_ _like… but what?_ Ranma thought about it for several minutes before he came up with an answer—it was something that Nabiki had already expressed willingness to do, but from the confessions she'd made under the influence of the Babble Point, he also knew that her actual interest in the subject amounted to little more than "mild curiosity" (and even _that_ was pushing it). All it would require was a little preparation….

"Hey, Nabiki?"

"Yes?" came a muffled reply from behind the door.

"I need ta head out an' get somethin' real quick. Would ya mind stayin' in there till I got back?"

There the briefest of pauses before his pet answered, "No problem."

Nabiki was sitting down in the bathroom, nude except for the collar around her neck, waiting for her Master, who was obviously planning something interesting, to give her permission to come into the main part of the room. She was about to give in to the temptation to open the door to check on his safety, when she heard a rapid shuffling outside the door, followed by her Master's voice: "Alright, Nabiki, come out when yer finished preparing."

Nabiki composed herself, put on the sexiest smile she could muster (which was quite a bit, actually) and opened the door. "I'm ready now, Mas… ter?" Nabiki was stunned to see her owner standing in front of her, with a recently emptied water bottle over her head and nothing on but her now-oversized (and wet) silk tang.

"That's 'Mistress' when I'm female, but I'll forgive ya since I was still male while ya were openin' the door."

"Ma— Mistress," Nabiki corrected herself nervously, "what's going on?"

Ranma, for her part, delivered one of her trademark smirks. "Ain't it obvious? We're gonna have sex."

"B-But you're a girl right now."

"So?"

"Well, you see, I'm not—it's not that I don't _want_ to, but…."

"But what?"

"Don't you think it might be better to take this a little bit at a time? So I can get used to the idea? I mean, I don't consider myself to be bisexual…."

"Hello? I already _know_ that—I've learned mosta yer fantasies, remember? I can tell ya right now that ya probably ain't a lesbian or bisexual. Least not the way most people mean it."

"But… why?"

Ranma's voice suddenly acquired an edge—it was clear that her patience with Nabiki was wearing thin. "Because yer my pet, that's why. All the Rules still apply, even when I'm female. An' if ya keep bein' stubborn about this an' keep tryin' ta stall for more time, I'm gonna hafta _make_ ya obey me, an' I'd rather not hafta do that. Understand?"

Nabiki was silent for a few seconds, with a deer-in-the-headlights look plastered on her face. Then Ranma's point came through to her: she had given her free will to Ranma, and it was not her place to refuse any sexual encounter with her owner, no matter what his/her current gender was. "Y-Yes, Mistress. Please forgive me… I was just a little stunned, that's all."

"Good. Then let's get started." Ranma sat down on the bed and unbuttoned her shirt, exposing her own set of breasts. "There's a lot about this body that I've been able ta explore since findin' that book, but there's one thing I wanna try out with these that my neck just can't handle."

Whether Nabiki was still getting over her initial surprise, or whether she just didn't get her Mistress's attempt at subtlety wasn't entirely clear, but ether way, her response was predictable: "Huh?"

 _Okay, if that subtlety stuff don't work, then_ … "I want ya ta suck on my tits."

"Oh… o-of course, Mistress, but…"

Ranma squinted sternly as her patience was stretched even thinner. "But what?"

"But… that's just so… feminine… being suckled, I mean."

"So? Maybe I wanna get in touch with my feminine side. It don't matter, because yer the _last_ person ta be makin' judgment calls on my sex life. Now if you don't get over here and start doing what I tell ya, I'm gonna hafta use force."

Nabiki knew that she _should_ have obeyed her Mistress, but a small part of her was still convinced she could persuade the redhead to switch back to her more desirable male form. "But what about your mother—"

That did it. Ranma was extraordinarily patient, but she knew that her mother had no place in a conversation about her sex life. In less than a second, she rose from her bed, stood before Nabiki, and slapped her pet in the face, holding herself back just enough to prevent injury. Nabiki was rendered speechless as the sting from the slap started to grow, leaving a pink hand-shaped mark on her cheek.

"That's **enough,** Nabiki," Ranma gave by way of explanation. "My mind's been made up for a while now, and you _ain't_ gonna talk yer way outta this. After all, when we first made that contract you _said_ that ya were willin' ta have sex with my girl form if that's what I wanted." Nabiki's response was to blush and stare at the floor—there was no denying the truth of her Mistress's statement. Ranma continued, "As a matter of fact, I _was_ plannin' on startin' out easy—that's why I wanted ya ta suck at my tits ta begin with. But now, it's clear we're gonna hafta start you out by throwin' ya in the deep end." Ranma grabbed her pet by the wrist and pulled her over to the edge of the bed, where she sat down. "On yer knees." Nabiki did as she was instructed, and even though she already had a pretty good idea of what her Mistress had in store for her, she waited for further instruction, which came in the form of her owner grabbing her by the head, holding her face to her crotch, and commanding, "Now start lickin'."

Fortunately for Nabiki, getting her Mistress to respond to her attentions turned out to be much easier than expected, as Ranma was already dampening from the exchange she'd had with her pet. This was, after all, the first time that Ranma had really exercised her ownership of Nabiki to this degree, and the thrill of seeing her pet submit to her despite resistance pretty much eliminated the need for more traditional forms of foreplay; now, the mental satisfaction that came from successfully asserting her control over Nabiki was coupled with her pet's stimulation of her physical sex, and the result was quite possibly one of the biggest ego boosts the young martial artist had so far experienced in her short life.

Nabiki, for her part, was trying to sort out all of the mixed signals she was getting from her brain. On the one hand, what she was doing felt extremely awkward and discomforting; not just from having to smell and taste her owner's female genitalia, but also from the "softness" that many people associate with the female form—to Nabiki's mind, for a woman's "softness" not to be complemented by a man's "firmness"… well, it just felt _weird_. In short, there was no way she would have done anything this had her Mistress not ordered it. Yet for some reason, she **still** found herself physically reacting to the experience, and the strange sensation of feeling simultaneously turned off and turned on was actually becoming disorienting. Sure, she could have tried to make herself more comfortable by focusing the masculine personality that her owner exuded no matter what her gender was, but then, it wasn't really the specific gender of her current sexual partner that was exciting her. Really, it was the fact that her owner had ordered her to please another woman (in this case, Ranma herself) that was so arousing—and the sudden realization that Ranma's command really _was_ enough to make her not only ignore her own orientation, but to react to something that normally wouldn't have stimulated her at all—well, even _she_ hadn't imagined herself capable of this level of submissiveness.

As the reluctant oral sex continued, Ranma simply leaned back and reveled in the decidedly awkward ministrations of her pet. Nabiki seemed to be getting over her Mistress's taste, as her tongue was moving much more steadily now, slowly building up speed—no doubt she was simply replicating the least complex masturbation technique she knew. Ranma didn't really care—it was enough that she hadn't needed to use physical force to get her pet to eat her out. In fact, she didn't need to keep her hands on her pet's head, as the light pressure Nabiki was applying to her owner's buttocks indicated that she was actually pressing herself closer to the redhead's sex—most likely as a way to overcome her uneasiness and make up for her insubordination.

Such obedience in the face of obvious misgivings deserved some sort of reward. Fortunately, Ranma gave her pet the perfect reward almost instinctively. "Oh, man… that's good… keep doin' that… don't worry 'bout anythin' fancy… atta girl… good job… yes…."

Upon hearing her Mistress's praise, Nabiki's arousal increased even further; she was being useful to her owner, a source of pleasure for her Mistress. And that, after all, was _why_ she'd become Ranma's pet in the first place: not just to fulfill her own fantasies—that was just a pleasant side effect. No, she agreed to her all-but-total submission to him so that she could bring some degree of happiness into the martial artist's life, under any circumstance. In other words, she was performing her designated function, and according to her Mistress, she was succeeding wonderfully.

Somehow, this was enough to transform the awkwardness of sexual contact with another female into a sort of eagerness to demonstrate that submission, and she began increasing the intensity of her ministrations in earnest—though always paying attention to her owner's comments, of course. Soon, Ranma had removed her hands from her pet's head and had begun massaging her own breasts, trusting that Nabiki

"Yeah… good… ugh… not so hard… yeah… yes… faster… faster… yes… Yes… YES!"

Ranma had, of course, experienced female orgasms before—after all, she'd done quite a bit of self-exploration to confirm the contents of The Master's Way before she'd dared to try the techniques on someone else. Still, there seemed to be a noticeable difference when someone else was doing the stimulating—Ranma couldn't exactly figure out _why_ , but somehow this was much, much better than masturbation. She collapsed onto the bed as her orgasm pulsed through her, riding out the waves of pleasure—so different from her male orgasms, which tended to be released "all at once."

It was almost a minute before Ranma had recovered to the point where she thought to check on her pet. She looked down towards her legs—and there was Nabiki, dutifully cleaning up her Mistress's juices without even needing an order. Ranma smiled; it seemed that Nabiki's brief flirtation with rebellion had subsided. "Excellent work, Nabiki. That was great."

Nabiki actually blushed at her Mistress's praise. "Thank you, Mistress."

"In fact, I think that cleanup yer doin' deserves a little reward. Whaddya say?"

"It… it's your decision, Mistress."

"Alright, then let's get inta the 69 position."

Nabiki's hopes that the reward would somehow involve hot water instantly evaporated. "Mistress?"

"Just because I'm rewardin' ya don't mean ya should stop what yer doin. Now get on top of me an' let me see yer pussy."

As soon as her pet was in position, Ranma immediately began "investigating" the way Nabiki had responded to her first lesbian encounter by prodding her pet's sex with her fingers. "Well, whaddya know? Fer someone who ain't inta girls, ya sure are wet from eatin' one out." The redhead activated one of Nabiki's Sensitivity Points, eliciting a shudder from her pet. "Heh. All that just 'cuz I told ya ta do it—looks like ya really _are_ mine."

Nabiki's response, such as it was, consisted mostly of pants and slight moans.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Ranma continued. "It ain't that yer attracted ta my girlform that's gettin' ya all wet down here, it's 'cuz I'm makin' ya do it."

"Y-Yes…"

"Yes what?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"That's better. Now, let's _really_ get things goin', shall we?"

Eventually, Ranma decided to allow his pet to serve him in his male form once again—a task that Nabiki undertook with great relish. Of course, that male form also needed much more time to recuperate between lovemaking sessions, which, surprisingly enough, the pair ended up using for conversation.

It was during one such break that Nabiki remarked, "So, Master, what exactly _can_ you do to me with that book of yours?"

"I thought ya said ya read it already."

"I only skimmed enough of it to figure out that it was how you knew about my fantasies—and though I can tell that most of it concerns the best ways to please a woman (and you've picked up those concepts quite well, by the way), I was wondering if it got… a bit more esoteric."

"Iso-what?"

"Let me try that again. Master, what other kinds of kinky stuff can you do to me? Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"Huh. Well, I suppose I can give ya _some_ idea of what I can do now. They got sections on shibari, an' other kinds of bondage, and some stuff on how ta use pain without actually injurin' the girl—how's yer cheek, by the way?"

Nabiki put her hand up to where her owner had slapped her previously. "It still stings a little, but it's fine. If there was going to be bruising, it would have shown up by now."

Ranma allowed himself a brief sigh of relief before going on. "Anyway, back ta the book, it's really the stuff on pressure points that really caught my interest—for starters, they don't really need any equipment, so they're _really_ cheap. Also, they kinda seem a bit safer, since most of them'll wear off eventually, so there's less chance of doin' permanent damage, if ya catch my drift."

Nabiki nodded. "And there's a lot of them?"

"Tons. One diagram shows more than two hundred different points ta make certain parts of the female body more sensitive."

"Huh. Someone must have gone to an awful lot of trouble to find all of these points just to improve his or her sex life."

"Actually, mosta them were developed for completely different reasons, but someone else figured out how ta use them for sex."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for example, there's this one point on yer right shoulder that'll make ya start makin' breast milk. It's original purpose was ta allow women ta breastfeed children who weren't theirs, like if the kid was adopted, or if the mother just wasn't available. But it's kinda obvious how that can also play inta sex, if yer inta that sorta thing. An' there's a lotta points that are meant ta restrain prisoners that can be used for bondage—ya definitely don't gotta worry about losin' circulation when ya use _those_. Some also have a few medical uses—but I'd kinda like ta keep those secret for now, actually.

"On the other hand, some points can really only be used for sex, like ones that change yer sex drive, or change how ya come, or that sorta thing."

"An on top of that, there's a whole section on aphrodisiacs, as well as herbs and teas and aromatherapies that can affect yer mind, make ya more suggestible—um, I didn't use one of the 'suggestibility' teas on you, though…"

"Master, please don't be defensive about that. I know you well enough to know that you'd never do something like that on purpose."

"Yeah, well, that's a basic overview of what that book taught me—I don't think ya gotta worry too much about me runnin' outta ideas anytime soon."

Just as she promised, Akane showed up at Ucchan's almost as soon as school was over, and Ukyo was already there to let her in. "You want anything to eat, Akane?"

"No… I just want to get this over with."

Akane's somber tone confirmed the chef's suspicion that this news would not be enjoyable. Ukyo did a quick check to make sure that nobody was around to hear the conversation. "Okay, Akane. No one's around. Now tell me: what's going on with Ranchan?"

"He… he and Nabiki…" Akane faltered, not particularly wanting to finish the sentence.

Ukyo, however, _had_ to know the answer. "Well, what happened? Are you telling me that Nabiki wants back into the fiancée game?"

"They got married," Akane finally blurted out.

"What?! But this morning you said that wasn't true!"

"I said that to protect Nabiki—not that it helped." Akane grimaced as she remembered Kodachi's brazen attack on the middle Tendo. "She's definitely going to have to start brushing up on her martial arts if she wants to keep herself safe."

Ukyo snorted. "Why hasn't she started already? Surely _she_ should have been able to tell that she'd be in trouble."

"Apparently, it only started recently—from what I understand, they would have preferred to go slower, but they also felt that they had to get married to prove that Nabiki wasn't pulling another one of her moneymaking schemes."

"So that's why Ranma left with Nabiki?"

"Pretty much. Considering all of the nutjobs around here who have a stake in who Ranma marries, _somebody_ needed to protect her."

"So what am I supposed to do now? Going after Ranma was all I had!"

"I don't even know what _I'm_ supposed to do."

"What do you mean? Weren't you the one who was always bitching about the arrangement your fathers made?"

"I was… but now I'm starting to think I might have made a mistake."

"Damn right you made a mistake! Any idiot could see that Ranchan's the most decent guy around here."

"Look, Ukyo, I've been kicking myself enough to begin with. I don't particularly need your commentary."

Ukyo sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking my frustration out on you—after all, it's hardly your fault that I didn't end up with Ranma."

"Can I trust you not to take that frustration out on Nabiki?"

"Akane! Do you really need to ask me that?"

"Well, seeing as how pretty much every martial artist in Nerima is almost totally unpredictable at times, yes, I do."

"I'm not going to hurt her—even if I wanted to, doing something like that is hardly going to endear me to Ranma."

"Thank you." Akane looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "I'd better be going—Kasumi's probably expecting me, and you'll need to open up shop pretty soon, right?"

Ukyo's face turned sullen at this sudden reminder of reality. She sighed yet again before looking at her fellow ex-fiancée. "I guess. Bye, Akane."

"Bye."

An emotionally drained Akane walked through the door of the Tendo home. "I'm back," she called to anyone who might have cared to listen.

"Welcome back, Akane!" Kasumi cheerfully greeted her youngest sister. "How was school?"

"Fine, considering that this might have been the worst day of my entire life."

"Bad day, then?" Soun asked without moving from his customary spot at the shogi board.

"You don't know the half of it," his daughter replied with a sigh.

"Well, why don't you relax for a while before dinner? I'm sure Kasumi can fix you a snack."

"Of course I can," Kasumi said brightly. "Is there anything particular you'd like, Akane?"

"Not really… anything you make will be fine."

It was when Kasumi left the room the Soun first noticed something amiss. "Where's Ranma? And Nabiki?"

"They're not here, no thanks to you."

"What are you talking about, Akane?" her father asked, clearly confused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Genma responded from his side of the shogi board. "Now that Ranma and Nabiki have married, they've no doubt gone off someplace private where they can produce an heir for us— oof!" The Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes and sometime-panda was cut off as son's sister-in-law sucker punched him in the gut.

"Baka," she said with a derisive snort.

"Ah, Akane," Soun said warily, "is this about the future of the Tendo School? Because I assure, we _will_ work something out—"

"Is that all you jerks can think about?! Your obsession with joining the schools?!" roared his daughter. "This doesn't have anything to do with that?"

"It doesn't?"

"Well maybe it does," Akane admitted. "After all, the reason you two decided to get blind stinking drunk in the first place was because you were celebrating, right?"

"Wh-What's this all about?"

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone about Ranma and Nabiki's marriage, remember? You agreed that it wasn't safe to do that until Nabiki could defend herself better. But apparently, that agreement doesn't count when you're boozed up!"

Soun had initially reacted to his daughter's belligerent tone with confusion, but now there was a definite hint of indignation creeping into his voice. "Akane, I assure you, Genma and I could not have told someone about Ranma and Nabiki's relationship while we were out drinking last night, for the simple reason that we did not go out at _all_ last night."

"You… you didn't?"

"No. Instead, we remained here, and opened a bottle of sake that we'd been saving for just such an occasion. No one could have heard us, because there was no one around _to_ hear us, with the exception of Kasumi."

"But Ryoga said he found the two of you last night, and he heard you say they were married…."

"He must have been mistaken."

"But… but…."

"Father's right," Kasumi said as she returned from the kitchen, having kept an ear on this conversation (not that difficult, considering its volume). "He and Genma didn't leave this house last night."

"But… how…?"

"Why don't you tell us what happened, first?" Kasumi suggested. "Where are Ranma and Nabiki?"

Akane sighed and began to recount the events of her extremely stressful day.

Ranma had cuddling his pet on top of the bed for several minutes when he decided to begin activity once again, but first, he had to ask "So, Nabiki, how much time we got left?"

His pet craned her neck over her shoulder to stare at a clock on the wall. "Quite a bit, Master, assuming that clock is correct. I'd we have about three hours."

Ranma nodded. "Oh, that's good."

"Does this mean you intend to continue using me this afternoon?"

"Well, since we paid for the time, it seems like a shame ta waste it," he replied with a smirk. Ranma then decided to change the subject a bit as he sat up in the bed and scanned over his pet's nude form — well, _almost_ nude, at least. "Ya look really beautiful like that, ya know? Wearin' nuthin' but that collar, I mean."

Nabiki found herself blushing at the compliment — something that she rarely did when she was in her "Ice Queen" persona. "Thank you, Master."

"Though, now that I think about it…"

"Master?" Nabiki asked with a somewhat confused look in her eye. Was there something about her body he didn't like?

"Ah, Nabiki, ya know that when I made those rules for ya yesterday, I was sorta makin' them up as I went along, right? As, like, a set of guidelines to start with, right?"

Nabiki, however, had already figured out where her owner was trying to steer the conversation. "Our contract doesn't make any mention of those rules, Master. It's your right to change them as you see fit."

"Oh, okay, good," Ranma said, noticeably relieved. "'Cuz I definitely wanna change some stuff. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like ownin' ya and doin' all this Domination stuff a lot, but I'd really rather give you a bit more room ta move around, ya know?"

Ranma's attempts to explain his actions were enough to make Nabiki sit up herself. "Master, you seem to be forgetting that _I'm_ the submissive one here. You don't need to explain any of your rules. Hell, it might be interesting for you to occasionally change them arbitrarily without giving me any reasons at all."

"Okay… well, then, I'm gonna strike that goin' ta the bathroom one, 'cuz the more I think about it, the less I'm interested in it, ya know."

His pet nodded. "Understood."

"Also, I'm gonna revise the one where ya ain't allowed ta touch yerself down there for any reason without my permission. From now on, yer allowed ta do it while yer cleanin' yerself up, but no other reasons, an' _especially_ not pleasurin' yerself, got it?"

"Yes, Master."

"An' in return for this, I want ya ta do somethin' for me."

"What is it, Master?"

"Startin' when we get home, I want ya ta shave yer pussy."

Nabiki blushed harder, though in all honesty she was somewhat surprised that her owner hadn't suggested this earlier. "O-of course… how much do you want removed?"

"All of it, if ya can," Ranma replied matter-of-factly. "Basically, when I look at you, I see a whole lotta smooth curves, an' I like that, but right between yer legs, it gets all interrupted by yer pubes, so I'd like ya ta take 'em all off."

This also surprised the pet somewhat; she wouldn't have thought that her owner would make such a suggestion for aesthetic reasons, but from what she knew about Ranma (which was a heck of a lot), she could tell he was being sincere. "Of course, Master. But I would ask that you keep in mind that I've never actually shaved my pubic hair before, so there might be a few stray hairs the first few times…."

"Well, if that happens, then I'll just hafta used negative reinforcement ta encourage ya ta learn how ta do it quicker, won't I?"

"O-Of course, Master. Thank you for the additional motivation." Nabiki wasn't entirely certain _why_ she'd decided to thank her owner for punishments that had yet to occur (and theoretically might never be incurred) — it just felt like the right thing to say. But then, it wasn't as though she had to put a lot of thought into being submissive: it had only taken a week of experimentation to confirm that it her submissiveness was an integral part of her personality, even if she was only willing to show that side of her to Ranma (and, by extension, anyone whom Ranma ordered her to share it with). However, as she glanced at her Master's loins, she'd noticed that little Ranma had begun to stir with her statement of gratitude as well. _Note to self: be sure to thank Master for future punishments._ She might have been a bit more mature than others her age, but Nabiki was still a horny teenager, and anything that could get little Ranma back in action faster was a Good Thing as far as she was concerned.

She silently hoped that this would segue into another chance for her to meet her owner's physical needs, but Ranma was still focused on the specifics of their arrangement. "I… also think I might have an idea for what ta do when yer _really_ bad."

"What is it?" Nabiki asked. This was the most important rule they would have; if successful, it could stop her from doing anything that would hurt her Master. She was determined to keep Ranma from the clutches of the Ice Queen, and she was willing to do whatever was necessary in that regard.

"Well, I figure that all that Ice Queen stuff ya used ta do was bad 'cuz it, well, it made me feel like ya didn't respect me. Not in a owner-pet type of thing, but as a human bein'. I felt like ya were just usin' me ta get money, sellin' me like I was some sort of product."

Nabiki hung her head. "That's exactly what I was doing," she confirmed. "That's the part of me I want to protect you from."

"Well… the way I see it, the punishment oughta fit the crime, right? An' since the Ice Queen treats me like I'm less than human, that's how I plan on respondin'."

"What will you do?" The more Nabiki knew, the more effective the discouragement would be.

"I… I don't know yet. I just know that it'll be somethin' degrading. I can't promise that you won't enjoy it… you got a hell of a lotta kinks an' fetishes in that head of yours, after all. Then again, maybe gettin' turned on by somethin' degradin' just makes it worse — I can't really imagine it too well, 'cuz I ain't got anythin' specific in mind. But I can promise ya this: I'm gonna try an' always make sure that the punishment fits the crime."

Nabiki nodded. "That's… that's enough, I think. If you got too specific, the Ice Queen would just start looking for loopholes to exploit anyway." Ranma's pet girl then proceed to grab him and hug him tightly. "Thank you… thank you so much…." Ranma returned the embrace, which was held for several seconds before they released each other.

It was then that Ranma noticed something. "Nabiki? Is there somethin' wrong? Yer eyes are startin' ta look teary."

"Nothing's wrong, Master. I'm just grateful that you're doing what you can to restrict me — jeez, that sounds corny."

Ranma's mouth drew up into a smirk as she cleared her eyes. "Corny, huh? Well, let the punishment fit the crime."

"Master?"

"That ain't corny. _This_ is corny: 'Get on the floor. Since you're my bitch, we'll be doing it doggy style this time.'"

This prompted laughter from both owner and pet for a few seconds — until Ranma suddenly seized Nabiki by the wrist, the smile suddenly gone from his face. "I _said_ , get on the floor, Nabiki," Ranma firmly restated.

"Oh, of course, Master… please forgive me." Nabiki scrambled off the bed as fast as she could to comply with her owner's took several minutes, but Akane finally managed to finish recounting the day's events. "So you see, I'm not certain where Ranma and Nabiki are right now. I do know that they went to the police to file charges against Kodachi, and I'm pretty sure they plan on coming home tonight, but that's about it."

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "That is quite disturbing."

"Indeed it is," her father agreed. "Still, at least one positive thing has come out of this."

"What's that?"

"Akane, your actions today in defense of your sister have proven that you are more than worthy to carry on the school. Up until now, you have been my _de facto_ heir, but now, I feel confident enough to make it official. The Tendo School of Anything Goes could hardly have a better Master than the one you can become, and therefore I am officially declaring you as its heir."

Akane simply stared in shock—less than twenty-four hours ago, it had seemed that everything she'd worked for was to be taken away, but now, her father planned to make official what everyone had been assuming for the last few years. The reversal of fortune left her at a loss for words: "R-Really?"

"Tendo!" Genma gasped. "What about joining the schools? Ranma can't marry Akane if he's already married to Nabiki!"

Soun raised an eyebrow at his short (and, it appeared, short-sighted) friend. "Genma, while it is true that the wellbeing of the Schools is important, they pale in significance to the wellbeing of our children. I cannot in good conscience make Nabiki the heir to the Tendo school—she simply isn't physically prepared for such a responsibility. Besides, Akane's devotion to the Art far exceeds that of her sisters. When I turn the Tendo School over to the next generation, it should be to the one who can best exemplify its ideals, and Akane is clearly the best choice in this regard."

The newly-designated heir still had problems believing this. "Daddy… you're not just doing this because you feel sorry for me, are you?"

"No, Akane, I'm not. I'm doing this because it's what I should have done in the first place. Kasumi helped me realize that it simply wasn't right to choose an heir based on any criteria other than talent and character. Nabiki is a wonderful person, but if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that she will likely never achieve the level of skill that you have, simply because she'd much rather focus her energy elsewhere. I'd still like to see the schools joined, but as far as I'm concerned, that's going to be a matter for you and Ranma to figure out."

"But Soun…" Genma started to protest.

"Genma, the last time I checked, I was the master of the Tendo School, not you." Soun turned his attention back to his daughter. "Will you accept this responsibility, Akane?"

"Daddy… I… yes! Of course!" Akane grasped her father in the most powerful bear hug she could muster (and fortunately for Soun, he was among the relatively small group of persons in Nerima who could survive such a hug without any sort of bruising). The youngest Tendo soon regained her composure and backed away from her father in order to reply in a more formal manner. "I mean, I would be honored, Tendo-sensei," she stated with a bow.

"Good. Then we can finally begin the next stage of your training."

Nabiki sighed as she stared at the ceiling, grateful once again that her owner had such a repository of sexual knowledge at his fingertips. The Master's Way was quickly becoming once of her favorite books, and she hadn't even read the whole thing—nor did she plan to. It would be much better if her Master could keep some things as surprises. Still, there was something that was bothering her somewhat. "Master?"

Ranma rolled from the spot on the bed where he'd been lightly dozing to face his pet. "What is it, Nabiki."

"I've been thinking…."

"Is this gonna be another thinly veiled hint at a position ya wanna try? Even with the book, I still got limits ta what I can do, Nabiki."

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just…" Nabiki paused as she tried to think of the best way to phrase what she was about to say. "It's just that I'm starting to feel worried."

"If this is about Kodachi—"

"No, it's not about her. It's more about our little arrangement."

"Gettin' second thoughts?"

Nabiki hastily shot down that possibility. "No, no absolutely not. Submitting to you just feels too right for me to second guess it. I'm just thinking…."

"Yeah," Ranma responded, prodding his pet to continue.

"What happens when you run out of ideas?"

"Ideas?"

"For what you can do with me. Don't get me wrong, I like what we're doing, but what happens when the novelty wears off? I mean, how do you 'spice up' a relationship when we've never had anything that even remotely resembles normal sex?"

Ranma unsuccessfully tried to stifle a chuckle.

"I'm serious, Master."

"I know ya are. It's just that what yer sayin' kinda reminds me of somethin' Ms. Aitsu was talkin' ta me about."

"And that is…?"

"She said that there was no way you agreed ta do this just for the sex, that ya were obviously way too smart ta do somethin' so monumentally stupid as ta start up a D/s thing without a safeword just 'cuz ya were horny."

"So?"

"So, the point is that we don't gotta worry about lulls in our sex life, because what we're doin' now ain't just based on sex. There's, ya know, an emotional touchy-feely thing ta it, or somethin' like that."

"She actually used the phrase 'emotional touchy-feely thing'?"

"Um, no. But she did say you weren't just in this for the sex, even if she wasn't sure if you knew what else you were gettin' out of it yet."

"So what else am I getting out of it?"

"Well, she thinks we're in love."

"Master, that's impossible. It's true that I've been infatuated with you for a while now, but I'm pretty sure I'd know if I was in love with you. Mind you, I'm not saying that it _can't_ happen, but… but people don't just fall in love after fucking each other's brains out a few times."

"Yeah, well, in my case, I ain't got a clue what it's like ta be in love. From the way Ms. Aitsu described it, I might be, but that could also mean that I'm in love with Akane, Shampoo, an' Ukyo as well. Heck, we can probably put Kasumi on that list, too. I can't honestly be in love with all of them _and_ you at the same time, can I?"

"Maybe you are."

"Huh?"

"There's no rule that says you can't fall in love with more than one person, Master. In fact, cheesy romance stories get tons of mileage out of the fact that you can fall in love with more than one person. I'll admit that it doesn't happen to most people, but you aren't most people."

"Whatever. Right now, I got you, an' that's all that matters." He glanced up at the clock. "Hey, it's getting kinda late."

"We still have more than two and a half hours to go."

"That's not what I mean—aren't our families gonna be wonderin' what's goin' on? Akane can only tell 'em so much, after all."

"I see your point. I should probably call home before they get worried."

"Alright. I'll be sure to tell them. You will be coming home tonight, won't you? Okay. I'll put some leftovers in the refrigerator for you, then. See you soon." Kasumi hung up the phone and returned to where the others were talking about the Art. "That was Nabiki," she started. "She and Ranma expect to be home this evening."

"That's good to hear," Soun said.

"She also said that the two of them had hired a lawyer."

This was something of a surprise. "What? Why?" asked Akane.

"Well, as you said, they've filed charges against Kodachi, and that likely means that we'll be needing legal advice in the near future. Fortunately, they've apparently managed to find a lawyer who is sympathetic to their plight, and is willing to charge them a reduced fee. We'll probably have to scrimp a bit more, but we should be able to afford it, particularly if Genma finds a job to help pay for his expenses."

"But it can't be _that_ much for only a few hours' consultation," Genma said nervously. "I mean, it's not like it's going to be anything long term, right?"

"Actually, Nabiki told me that she's seriously considering filing a civil suit against Kodachi. Also, if the Kuno's are feeling vindictive, there's a chance that they may try to bring Akane up on criminal charges."

"What criminal charges?!" Soun asked in astonishment.

"Assaulting Kodachi, if I understand the situation correctly."

"But _she_ was the one who attacked Nabiki."

Akane sighed. "Daddy, Kodachi wouldn't be a Kuno if she let something so minor as facts get in the way of her delusions. There's a reasonably good chance that she honestly doesn't think she did anything wrong."

"In any case," Kasumi continued, "Nabiki won't be able to give us all the details until she and Ranma arrive home again, so I suggest we wait until then before jumping to conclusions."

Yugemi Aitsu, Attorney-At-Law, was lounging on her bed, reading a book as she tried to unwind from what was, without a doubt, the strangest day of her entire career.

Ordinarily, Yugemi would have relaxed by spending some quality time with her slave, but Shiori was unfortunately preoccupied with her work that evening, as she was getting ready for an important presentation the next day. It was just as well, really: somehow she doubted anything they could do could come close to the fantasies filtering through her mind at the moment, most of them centered on one of her new clients. Sure, she knew that she probably shouldn't be fantasizing about Ranma, but given the possibilities inherent in his unique condition, it was almost inevitable.

 _Not one but_ _ **two**_ _great bodies_ … _too bad he's a client._ Then again, Yugemi wasn't entirely certain she'd be able to enjoy sex with Ranma Saotome; the young man (or woman, when applicable) had all the makings of a very Dominant personality. The brief time she'd spent with him had shown her quite clearly that Ranma had an overwhelming desire to please, to the point where he was willing to accept the massive amount of responsibility that came with a long-term D/s relationship, particularly one where safe-words didn't enter the picture. The notion that the submissive was always in control was repeated so often in the subculture that it was almost a cliché, but that didn't make it any less true. Ultimately, the "all or nothing" setup which the Saotomes were using placed a huge amount of control in Nabiki's hands; as their contract was written now, Ranma wouldn't get any second chances—if he messed up, the relationship was effectively over.

As a result, Ranma was trying as hard as he could to fulfill Nabiki's submissive fantasies while the relationship was still in its formative stages. It didn't help that the guy was obviously a perfectionist, either. Still, Yugemi felt that they were off on the right foot; as she'd told them earlier, the fact that they thought to consult an attorney about their contract showed a prescience of mind that was, unfortunately, not always present in novices. Both of them seemed quite committed to make their relationship work, which was always a good thing, D/s context or not.

She'd hate to see them get derailed so early in the process.

 _Hmm_ … _perhaps I can bend the rules a bit with some tutoring_ … After all, it wasn't so much sex that could bring problems into an attorney-client relationship as it was the complication of the dynamics that resulted. Yugemi always saw private law practice in quasi-D/s terms—she had to represent her clients according to their wishes, even when she disagreed with them on a personal level. The client was always in control, and for her to have a relationship with (i.e., to Dominate) a client could open up the potential for unnecessary confusion. But in this context, she could perhaps be a bit more lenient; she wasn't planning on trying to get Ranma to submit to her, even for a brief role-playing session, because it seemed to run counter to his personality. Yet as long as Ranma's authority was kept clear, and as long as it was clear that Nabiki belonged to Ranma alone, perhaps…

 _Stop that right now, Yugemi,_ the attorney chided herself. As their lawyer, she couldn't get involved with them, much as might have she wanted to. _But then again, I_ _ **have**_ _also offered to help them out in non-legal contexts_ … This was enough for her to make up her mind: she'd show them the ropes (literally and figuratively) if and only if they asked, and she wasn't going to pressure them one way or the other. Yugemi smiled to herself as she reached this conclusion; it seemed to gel well with her personal code of ethics, and she was reasonably sure that it wasn't just wishful thinking. _After all, what are the chances Ranma will actually c—_

The attorney's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone next to her bed. Very few people knew her home phone number, and one of those persons was Ranma Saotome. With a bit of trepidation, she lifted the receiver to her ear. "Hello?"

"Ms. Aitsu?" came a somewhat panicked voice. "It's me, Ranma."

"Oh. Hello, Ranma. Is something the matter?"

"Um, yeah. Look, uh, this is kind of awkward ta ask, especially since I only met ya today…"

 _If he asks_ … Yugemi cut her train of thought off right there—Ranma's voice had too much of an edge for this to be a question about effective knot-tying techniques. "Go ahead, Ranma, I'm listening."

"Um, do you know a place we can stay for about a week?"

This request seemed decidedly odd. "Couldn't you get back home?"

"Oh, we got back fine, all right. In fact, we were about ta go ta sleep when Kodachi happened."

"What?!"

"Apparently, she wasn't too happy when the police showed up at her house, so she decided ta come here ta try an' take her frustrations out on Nabiki again."

"You're serious?" From what she'd been told about Kodachi Kuno, Yugemi had surmised that she might have some mental problems, but _this_ , this was outrageous!

"I ain't gonna kid around when Nabiki's safety is at stake. I'm just glad we decided ta sleep in the same room tonight, or… ya know what, I don't really wanna think about that. Anyway, I wanna take Nabiki somewhere where nobody'll know we're there, at least until it's safe ta come back. I think we can arrange ta get our schoolwork sent ta us, assumin' Principal Kuno don't try ta do nuthin' crazy."

"Alright… I understand." Yugemi bit her lip as she tried to think of a place, but her state of mind was such that only one idea came to her. "You can stay at my home."

"Really? I mean, we wouldn't want ta impose."

"It won't be a problem, I assure you. My home is rather large, and I have a spare bedroom for… let's call them 'overnight guests.'"

"Oh, okay… that's sounds pretty good. So, uh, where is it?"

Yugemi gave him the address, trying to keep herself from jumping to any conclusions about what was could happen over the next few days. _You're just providing them some much-needed sanctuary, that's all. Nobody's asked for any lifestyle assistance yet._

"Thanks. Yer really great, ya know that?"

"Ah, thank you, Ranma."

"And, hey," the martial artist continued in a lower voice, "maybe ya could teach us a few things about ya know, the owner-pet thing."

Yugemi's eyelid twitched as she listened to the request. "We'll see," she replied after a brief pause.

"Thanks—we'll be there in a few hours, okay? I wanna make sure we don't get followed."

"I'll be waiting."

"Okay. See ya."

"Goodbye." Yugemi then heard the _click_ of Ranma's hang-up, followed by a dial tone. It was several seconds before she finally put the receiver back on its holder. "Well, that was… interesting," she said to herself, still eyeing her telephone warily. She rapidly shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She had to get ready for her new guests. _Well, at least Shiori will be surprised when she comes home from work tomorrow._

"I can't believe the nerve of that… that… argh!" Akane generally tried to avoid saying nasty things about others, at least when her Father or Kasumi was in earshot, but Kodachi's antics that night were making this goal rather difficult to achieve tonight.

"I must admit, her actions seemed rather… excessive," Kasumi concurred obliquely. "At least Ranma was there to protect Nabiki."

Soun hadn't been to thrilled with the idea at the time, but hindsight had given the somewhat convoluted excuse Ranma had provided absolute clarity. "I hope the others who are after Ranma aren't as aggressive."

"Perhaps we can trick them into thinking that he's actually married Akane," Genma suggested. "After all, she can defend herself."

There was a pause as the other three persons in the room stared at Genma. Finally, Akane broke the silence with her stunning realization: "Holy crap, you actually think that would be a good idea."

"It is a good idea. Isn't it?" Another round of silence. "What, it would work, right?"

"Anyway," Soun said, ignoring his friend's attempt at advice, "what will be done about the others?"

"Leave them to me," Akane said. "I've already talked to Ukyo, and I'm pretty sure she won't do anything crazy. And as for the Amazons… well, at the very least, I think I can convince them to leave Ranma and Nabiki alone for a while."

"You're sure about this."

"Pretty sure. Since we don't have school tomorrow, I'll let Ukyo and the Amazons know what's going on in the morning—that way, maybe they won't try to hound me for more information."

"Did Ranma actually say where they were going?" Kasumi asked.

"I don't think so," Soun replied. "He said he'd call us in the morning, though."

"I hope they're okay."

"I'm sure they're fine, Kasumi," her father replied. "Ranma won't let anything else happen, I'm sure of it."

Though not a typical greeting, Yugemi's first question upon the Saotomes' arrival was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine," Ranma said as he shifted the weight of his backpack on his shoulders. "A little tired, but fine. I'm almost certain we weren't followed." He had spent several hours roof hopping across Tokyo with his pet in his arms for that very reason, after all.

"Well, don't just stand there, come in," Yugemi replied, motioning her clients into her home. The two teenagers did just that, and after taking off their shoes, the pair made a beeline for a very comfortable looking sofa, where they sat down in a show of great relief.

"Sorry we took so long ta get here—what time is it?"

"It's about a quarter past one, by my watch," Yugemi said. "I'd ask the two of you what happened, but something tells me you're not in the mood to talk about that just yet."

"No," Nabiki replied. "We're just tired… I mean, I'm tired, and I'm pretty sure Ranma is too…."

"Well, let me show you to your room. The grand tour can wait until tomorrow."

Upon being shown to the bedroom, Nabiki immediately walked over to the bed, slumped onto it, and was asleep within a matter of seconds. "She really is tired, isn't she?" Yugemi said. "She didn't even bother changing her clothes."

"Yeah, well, she's been through a hell of a lot today. Gettin' attacked by a loony twice in one day is bound ta wear out anyone who ain't used ta it."

"Aren't you going to join her?"

"In a few minutes… I just wanna head outside an' make sure nobody else is out there."

"Don't worry, Ranma. I have a very good security system."

"No offense, but Kodachi ain't exactly the type who's gonna be scared of that."

"She's still out there?"

"I dunno. I'm assumin' she could use her family's pull ta get the police ta let her go again, but even if she can't, there's always the chance that she sent one of her employees after us."

"Persistent?"

"You have no idea."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it at the moment. Anything more detailed than that can wait until after you've had a full night of sleep."

"Right. Um… is there anybody else here I should know about? I mean, I don't wanna mistake someone who's s'posed ta be here for an intruder."

"Not tonight—my slave is spending the night at her apartment tonight. It's closer to her workplace, so it's ideal for when she needs to get things done. I do expect her to be back here tomorrow night, however."

"Okay… that sounds good," Ranma replied, though it was obvious that by now he was just talking because he thought he should be saying something.

"Why don't you make that last check outside, and then go to bed," Yugemi replied. "You need sleep."

"Yeah… yer right about that."

When Akane arrived at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki the following morning, there wasn't much need for pleasantries.

"Hi, Akane," the proprietor greeted the incoming customer in a flat voice.

"Hi, Ukyo," the customer responded in kind.

"You feeling any better?"

"I don't know… it's a mixed bag, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, on the plus side, my father decided that the way I defended Nabiki meant that I'd finally earned the right to be officially named the heir of the Tendo School."

"But… aren't you and Ranma supposed to join the schools."

"Uh-huh."

"So, how are you going to do that without marrying him?"

"I don't know. But as far as my father's concerned, that's something Ranma and I can figure out later."

"Right… and the panda?"

"He's not quite sure how to react. He's been acting really grumpy about my father's decision, but I think that's mostly because he expected things to go the way he wanted them to go. I don't think he's going to try and get in the way—what reason could he have?"

"Does he need a reason?"

"I think so. I mean, the way they'd originally planned it, _Nabiki_ would have been the heir, and considering what happened after they came home last night, that just wouldn't be safe."

"What happened?"

Akane was rather sparse in her description: "Kodachi was arrested and charged with assault. She was released that evening thanks to her age and her family's connections, and proceeded to try and finish what she started this morning."

"She attacked Nabiki again?"

"Uh-huh. It was one of her standard ambushes, really. She hid on our roof until she heard Nabiki enter the room and close the door, and then she attacked through the window. What she didn't count on was that Ranma was already in her room; he told me that he'd been trying to stay silent as soon as he suspect that someone was on the roof. I heard raised voices in the room around that time, and a lot of scuffling around."

"So, what did Ranchan do?"

"When Kodachi attacked, he grabbed her and tossed her out the window. He followed her, and they traded blows for a few seconds—Kodachi was more than outmatched. Then she left, spouting some nonsense about how she'd free Ranma from Nabiki's clutches."

"But… but Ranchan never fights with girls, at least not when he's a guy."

"Exactly."

The implications took a few seconds to settle, but when they did, they turned out to be very heavy. Ranma had actually been willing to respond with physical force; whatever Kodachi had actually done, it was enough for Ranma to decide that his usual code of ethics didn't apply. When she realized this, Ukyo wasn't sure that she wanted to know all the details. "So that's the reason you look so tense?"

"No… at least, not entirely. You see, I'm mostly stopping here at Ucchan's to collect my thoughts before I head over to the Nekohanten."

"You're going to tell the Amazons?!"

"Better they find out now than for them to use those strong-arm tactics of theirs."

"But… you're not doing it alone, are you?"

"Yeah, I am. I know it's risky, but I'm pretty sure Cologne won't do anything drastic. At least, nothing more drastic than what we're used to. If she keeps her head, then I'm sure she'll keep Shampoo in line."

"You sure you don't want some help?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay." Akane seemed quite sure of herself, and the chef wasn't certain that there was anything she could do to change her mind. "Just one more question, though."

"Yes?"

"Why are you so accepting of this all of a sudden? And don't say it's because you've been named the heir of your school—you care about Ranchan way too much for that to be a decent consolation prize."

"It… it's hard to explain, but…" Akane paused and took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts. "But when Ranma and Nabiki came home last night, Nabiki… she… she had this smile on her face. Not a smirk, or one of the fake smiles she uses when she's trying to con somebody out of their money, but an honest-to-goodness smile. She… she was actually happy. I mean, _really_ happy, without any of the maliciousness that normally comes with her good moods. I can't remember the last time I saw Nabiki like that. I don't want to take that away from her—I care about her too much. And if that means giving up Ranma, then… then maybe it's for the best."

Ukyo didn't respond as she took in the explanation. A part of her wanted to think that Akane had simply been taken in by her sister's wiliness yet again, but another part believed just as strongly that Akane could see when Nabiki was being genuine. For the first time, she was faced with the possibility that Nabiki's relationship with Ranma was the real deal. "So, you're just letting it go? Just like that?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I mean, it still hurts… and if Nabiki really is leading Ranma on, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her. But… but seeing the two of them together like that… I guess it's made me more willing to try and accept a life without Ranma. I just hope I can do it."

It was almost 10 o'clock when the Saotomes awoke in their guest room. "Good morning, Nabs."

"Good morning..." Nabiki paused and reached her hand to her neck. Finding it bare, she then finished her sentence: "...Ranma."

"Well, I guess our honeymoon's been extended."

"I guess so."

"Better than nuthin', though, right?"

"Right." Nabiki's next question was a bit unexpected, though not all that out of the ordinary, given the circumstances: "So... do you want me to wear the collar?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Uh, sure, why not? I mean, it's not like Ms. Aitsu is gonna think there's anythin' wrong with it, right. Uh... did we remember ta pack it?"

"Didn't you put it in there?"

"I thought you did—wait, lemme check." Ranma went over to his backpack, which contained everything the pair had (rather hastily) packed for their unexpected "vacation" and started digging into it. "I'm seein' a folder fulla papers, an' a bunch of clothes, but I can't seem ta find the collar. Didn't you have it last?"

"I did, but..." Nabiki paused as a realization suddenly came to her: "You know what? I think I dropped it when Kodachi showed up."

Ranma sighed. "Great. I get Ms. Aitsu ta agree ta help us out some, an' we hafta go an' forget it."

"Forget what?" came a new voice from the doorway, which caused both teenagers to jump from the surprise.

"Ms. Aitsu!" Ranma said with surprise.

"Please, call me Yugemi," the lawyer replied. "After all, given the nature of the 'help' you were speaking of, I prefer a bit of informality. Now, what did you forget?"

"Um, we sorta left Nabiki's collar at home..."

"I see. And is there something special about this collar? A sentimental attachment, perhaps?"

"Um, not really," Ranma replied.

"It's just a dog collar," Nabiki explained further. "But it would be nice to have some kind of symbol, you know?"

"Well, that's not a problem then—I always keep a few spare collars around for people who are just exploring the lifestyle. You can use one of those."

"Hey, thanks," Ranma said. "Um... do ya mind if we, uh, got it now? I know ya wanna know about what happened..."

"I don't mind at all," came the answer. "You two have obviously been through a lot of stress, after all. You can tell me when you're ready."

"Oh. Okay. So... where do ya keep 'em?"

"In the basement."

"And where is that?"

"Why don't you two get cleaned up and have breakfast first, and then I'll show you around."

The tour was, by and large, unexceptional; from the size of her home, it was obvious that Yugemi made a very comfortable living from her career as an attorney (which was probably why she could afford to give the Saotomes a discounted rate for her services). From a design standpoint, it was mostly traditional, with a few Western touches thrown in, such as the large sofa in the living room. However, any semblance of normalcy evaporated when the hostess arrived at her home's central feature, which from outside appearances was nothing more than a simple door.

"And that, my friends, is the entrance to my personal dungeon, where all the magic happens, so to speak. When I first went looking for a home, one of my requirements was a reasonably spacious and structurally sound basement which could be adapted for this very purpose. Naturally, you are welcome to use it, provided you clean up after yourselves—and given that this week is likely to be as close as you'll ever get to a traditional honeymoon, I expect you will," the lawyer added with a slight twinkle in her eye, which managed to get a blush from Ranma.

"Um, yeah, about that..."

"You're wondering how our instruction session is going to work?"

Ranma nodded, creating much confusion for his pet. "Wait... instruction? What's going on here?"

"When Ranma called and asked if the two of you could stay here, he also inquired about possible instruction in the lifestyle. In other words, I'm going to teach him a few of the things I've learned from experience in order to make sure your relationship stays healthy."

"Oh... okay."

"Now, how we go about doing this really depends on your comfort level. Would you rather just listen to my advice before experimenting on your own, or do you want me to be present while you're trying things out?"

Ranma scratched his head in mild confusion. "Uh, I dunno... I mean, you'd be doin' what? Just watching?"

"Watching, giving advice, occasionally demonstrating—actually, once Shiori gets here this afternoon, I'd like to do quite a bit of demonstrating, and not just for your benefit, if you catch my drift."

"Ya mean like showin' me what ta do with Nabiki by doin' it on yer... uh..."

"Slave."

"Right. Um, how's that different from the way Nabiki's my pet?"

"For all practical purposes, it isn't, but I personally think that semantic connotations of labels can subtly effect the dynamics of a relationship."

"The what now?"

"Let me try that again. Would you treat Nabiki differently if you called her your slave?"

"I... I dunno. I don't think so. It's just that that seems kinda cold, ya know? Uh, no offense. 'Pet' just seems like a better word ta me, I guess."

"That's basically my point: labels can have an effect on a person's comfort zone."

"Uh, okay. I guess I'll take your word for it." Truthfully, Ranma wasn't entirely certain what all the talk about labels had to do with anything. He just knew that he wanted to think of Nabiki as his pet, because that's how he'd been thinking of her since they'd started the relationship.

"Don't worry about it. I tend to take a very intellectual approach to the lifestyle, but that's just my personal quirks showing. Really, all you need in order to make a relationship like this work is a good deal of common sense. But in any case, I'd like to ask you a few questions before we do anything—it's something I do with everyone before they enter my dungeon for the first time."

"Okay."

"Now, ordinarily, I'd ask a series of questions about comfort levels, particularly when I'm dealing with a new submissive, but since, strictly speaking, I'm not going to be Dominating either of you, I think we can address those issues when they arise. So instead, I'm going to skip ahead to some more concrete questions."

"Go ahead," Ranma replied.

"First, do either of you have any STDs?"

"No."

"Is there a chance that Nabiki might be pregnant or may become pregnant in the near future?"

"Probably not. Nabs is on the pill."

Yugemi nodded and continued: "Are either of you allergic to latex?"

"Huh? What's that got ta do with anythin'?" Nothing in his book mentioned anything about latex—but then, it was a pretty old book.

Nabiki, however, picked up on her owner's confusion immediately. "It's a fetish some people have. And yes, I'm allergic to latex," she answered Yugemi.

"Okay... now, do either of you have any medical conditions that I should know about in case of an emergency?"

"I don't think so," Ranma replied.

"Then why don't you follow me downstairs, and we can get started."

As Yugemi flicked a light switch on the wall, the couple got their first chance to view the secluded room—and the sight before them was actually surprising. Perhaps they were expecting something vaguely medieval, or perhaps they expected to see a room completely upholstered in leather. What they most certainly didn't expect was a brightly-lit room with hardwood flooring and wall painted in a soft greenish-beige.

Granted, it certainly had several unique aspects that identified it as a "special-purpose" room, such as the St. Andrew's cross installed on one of the walls, made of the same hardwood as the flooring, or the strategically placed eye hooks in the ceiling's crossbeams for use in shibari and other hanging devices, or the posts placed in the corners, made from the same hardwood as the floors with rings bolted onto them at various heights, or the wooden stocks off to one side. But what really removed all doubt as to the room's purpose were the elaborate displays on the walls, which contained all manner of toys and other accessories.

Ranma summed up his opinion quite succinctly: "Holy crap, that's a lotta stuff."

Yugemi responded with a sly smile. "Well, I like to have as many options open to me as possible during a scene. Actually, there's even more stuff in that closet over there," she added, gesturing to a door that had gone heretofore unnoticed. "Mostly larger items that would take up too much space if I tried to fit all of them into this one room—sexual furniture and the like. Normally, I store the stocks in there as well, but I haven't really had the chance to put it away since you got here," she explained further.

"This isn't quite what I expected…." Nabiki said as she looked around. "I mean, it's very nice, but I expected something…"

"Dimmer?" Yugemi suggested.

"Yeah."

"Well, there's a good explanation for that. I've already told you that my approach to the lifestyle is very intellectual and analytical, thanks mostly to my personality quirks. And I've found that one of the best ways to accommodate these quirks is through teaching others about the myriad aspects of the lifestyle through both direct instruction and demonstrations with my slave. In a sense, this dungeon is really a classroom of sorts (albeit one that can't accommodate much more than four or five 'students' at once), which is why I have such a great variety of things available to use—even a few things that I really have no interest in myself. I want to encourage exploration, and I also find that all these props are quite useful as visual aids when giving explanations. That's also the reason that the lighting is so bright: I firmly believe that when you're learning a new technique, it's best to make sure you can see clearly, particularly if it's a complicated approach to bondage which can create unnecessary discomfort and pain when done incorrectly. But lest you think I solely concentrate on clinical instruction, I'll have you know that the lights in here can be made dimmer for those more intimate times when it's just me and my slave." The lawyer demonstrated by flicking several of the light switches, changing the bright, "instructional" lighting into a much softer and more subdued sight.

Ranma let out a low whistle. "Nice." It actually looked kind of romantic, albeit in a rather perverted way.

"Thank you," Yugemi replied as she returned the lighting to its full brightness. "I actually had it renovated fairly recently—you see, my current slave is a very talented interior designer, and I think she managed to capture just the look I wanted. She got the hardwood floor idea from the classrooms at the girls' boarding school she attended as a teenager; from what I understand, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes kink going on amidst the various cliques."

"You can earn a living designing dungeons?" Nabiki asked.

"Not exactly," the attorney explained. "You see, she generally designs rooms that one would normally find in a home—kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, that sort of thing. She doesn't really advertise her expertise in this particular niche except through word-of-mouth, since she doesn't want to scare away potential customers who aren't involved in the lifestyle. That said, she does have a fair number of clients who come to her for more specialized work such as this room."

"I see," Nabiki said.

At this point, Yugemi opted to shift the conversation into its next phase. "Now, for rather obvious reasons, I'm unusually sensitive to the possibility of lawsuits in the event that somebody gets seriously hurt on my property, so before we get started, I have a few rules that I'm going to have to insist that you follow. First, I don't allow any outside equipment or accessories in here without my prior approval. When I say 'outside equipment,' I mean anything related to the more dangerous forms of edge play. I've got nothing against those who are interested in that, but I don't want it happening here. Second, if I tell you that there's an emergency and that you need to leave quickly, you _will_ leave quickly—to that end, I don't allow any forms of bondage that can't be quickly removed in a few seconds, preferably either by cutting through ropes or fabric or by releasing panic snaps. Third, under _no_ circumstances will a bound person be left in this room or any other room in my home by themselves, for the same reasons as the previous rule. And finally, clean up after yourself."

"How is that a safety measure?" Nabiki asked with mild confusion.

"It isn't a safety measure _per se_ ; I just like to keep my 'classroom' clean and organized, and I don't see why I should have to clean up after messes which I had no part of."

"Oh. Alright."

With some trepidation, Akane entered the Amazonian restaurant to talk about the current fiancée situation. The first person she saw as she came in was her lavender-haired antagonist. "Welcome to Neko—oh, it you," Shampoo said with a mild glare. "Kitchen Destroyer come to tell Shampoo what going on?"

"No, I'm here to talk to Cologne," Akane said. She did _not_ want Shampoo in the same room for this particular conversation.

"Ranma Shampoo husband," the Amazon explained. "You talk about Ranma, Shampoo be there."

"I am here to talk to Cologne and nobody else—especially not you."

"Then why don't we head to one of the back rooms?" the old woman's voice rang out as she approached from the kitchen area.

"But Great-grandmother—"

"I assure you, child, that I will give you any pertinent information. If Akane doesn't feel comfortable talking to you (and given your attitude recently I can fully understand that), then she's perfectly welcome to talk to me. Besides, we're in the midst of business hours, and I'd rather not leave the restaurant under Mousse's supervision. Is that clear?"

The Amazon teenager sighed. "Yes, Great-grandmother."

"Good,Yugemi's philosophy of BDSM instruction was very much student-centered: in her view, it was best to let the curriculum be dictated by the ones doing the learning. Besides, she was always interested in the ideas newbies had; sure, a lot of times, they were little more than tired clichés picked up from BDSM erotica, but every now and then she met novices with really innovative approaches to the lifestyle—one of the great rewards of acting as an instructor, in her opinion. And given that she'd never met anyone who could change their physical gender with the application of cold water, the odds were good that Ranma and Nabiki had come up with ideas she would never have thought possible. "So, have the two of you discussed any ideas that you're interested in?"

Ranma suddenly became noticeably nervous. "Um, ya could say that…."

Yugemi, however, was far too good at reading people not to notice that something was up. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," Nabiki said nonchalantly. "The two of us have already talked about some things, that's all."

"Nabiki, if that was 'all,' then your owner would have simply said 'Yes.' Instead, he chose to qualify his response, which tells me that there was a bit more to this conversation than the two of you sitting down and talking about interesting ways to have sex."

"So what if there's more? It was a private conversation between the two of us."

"Hey, don't worry—I know how important privacy is. If there's no need for me to know, I'll just drop the subject."

Nabiki responded with a satisfied smile. Unfortunately, that satisfaction was short-lived, as Ranma decided speak up: "Actually, there _is_ somethin' ya oughta know…"

"Ranma…"

"I know what ya said, Nabiki, but I'm pretty sure yer wrong on this one."

"But, Ranma—"

"Nabiki, which one of us is the owner?"

"You are," Nabiki said in a resigned voice.

"That's right. An' that means I gotta take responsibility if I did somethin' wrong. An' you gotta let me do that. You understand?"

"But—"

"No 'buts,' Nabiki. I've made up my mind."

"Alright."

"Um, pardon me, but what's going on?" asked their now extremely curious attorney.

"I think ya gotta learn just how our relationship got started," Ranma said. "It… it wasn't exactly my best moment, now that I think about it."

"What do you mean?"

And so, Ranma recounted how he found his copy of The Master's Way, how he'd used Nabiki as a "test subject" of sorts and learned most of her fantasies, most of which involved him being very direct and forceful in his initial approach. He skimmed over their first experience together, mostly because he wasn't sure that it was all that important; what mattered in this case was that he'd put Nabiki under some sort of hypnotic trance without her verbal or written approval.

Yugemi wasn't sure what to make of this—certainly, there were some interesting repercussions from the hypnosis thing, but she was more dumbfounded by the fact that not only had the two of them never had vanilla sex with each _other_ , but apparently, neither had _ever_ tried vanilla sex. _Talk about jumping into the deep end_ …. The lawyer, however, brushed that aside for the moment, as she wanted to address Ranma's main concern directly. "Well, I certainly understand your concern—and you're right, Ranma, this is something you definitely should have told me, if only so I could put your fears to rest."

"Huh?"

"Ranma, if I'm understanding the situation correctly, you essentially hypnotized Nabiki and had her tell you her fantasies. While that might sound ominous, in actual fact it exonerates you from any wrongdoing."

"What? How?"

"It's quite simple. It's a fairly well documented fact that a person can not be hypnotized against their will. That means that if Nabiki wanted to resist, she could have done so quite easily. Furthermore, although a person is much more suggestible while under hypnosis, no hypnotist can 'make' a person do anything that they couldn't be convinced to do in a normal state of mind. Thus, there's nothing you could have possibly put into her head that she wouldn't have been willing to do anyway."

"But I didn't agree to let him do that," Nabiki pointed out.

"Maybe not verbally, but trust me, the very definition of hypnosis means that he couldn't have done it without some cooperation on your part. In any case, that doesn't matter, since you're not planning on taking legal action. What is important is that nobody can legitimately claim that you became Ranma's pet because he's somehow controlling your mind."

"I dunno," Ranma said. "I've seen some magic artifacts that can really mess with a person's head."

"Did you use any magic?"

"Uh, no… but I did hit some special pressure points."

"Which did nothing but put Nabiki in a state of heightened suggestibility, which is the definition of hypnosis."

"So… I didn't do nuthin' wrong?"

"No. It wouldn't have worked if you were doing something wrong."

Ranma then breathed a huge sigh of relief—clearly, this had been on his mind for a while. "That's good ta know. I guess this means ya ain't gonna be able ta try an' use ta manipulate me," he added to his pet.

This did not escape their instructor's notice. "Is this something I should know about?"

"Nah. It's just that Nabiki was the one who figured out how she could turn the whole situation on its head, ya know? By tryin' ta make me feel guilty 'bout how our relationship started out, and all."

"I see… so she's been topping from the bottom?"

"The what now?"

"Pretending to be submissive, but really acting out a Dominant role in a relationship."

Nabiki had to jump in here. "No! I didn't do anything like that… I just figured out how I could, that's all, so I let him know so he wouldn't be caught off guard by it."

"And yet you also told him not to tell anyone about it?"

"That… I didn't mean anything by it. It was just… well, my instincts, I guess. No, wait, I didn't mean that…"

Yugemi smiled at the girl's attempts to finagle her way out of her situation, mostly because they were entirely unnecessary, in her opinion at least. "Nobody's accusing you of anything, Nabiki. It's just that if you have a deeply ingrained, manipulative personality (and if I recall correctly, that's the precise reason you gave for going so far so soon), then it would be silly to expect you to completely shed it at the drop of a hat just because you've drawn up a contract."

"But… isn't Ranma supposed to be the one in control?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to give all that control to him without any difficulty. As enthusiastic as you are, you're still a novice, and that means you still need to be trained. And when I say 'trained,' I'm not trying to make some sort of playful analogy to your owner-pet relationship; I mean that you're going to have to _learn_ what it is to really submit to another person, because that doesn't come naturally to a lot of people."

"Oh."

"But that's really not that important, at least for the moment; what's important is that Ranma already has a fairly good idea of what you're interested in—and if everything he's told me about the book is true, he already has a considerable theoretical knowledge base that we can work from. Now, I suggest that the two of you pick out the collar Nabiki's going to use while you're here, and then we can get started."

the Matriarch replied with a nod. "Follow me, please, Akane."

Several minutes later, Nabiki stood before her owner/spouse and their attorney, nude save for the collar the pair had chosen to borrow for the duration of their stay.

"I see you've opted to have your pet shave her body hair."

"It's just somethin' we're tryin' out."

"But that doesn't change the fact that this can be quite symbolic."

"It don't symbolize nuthin'," Ranma replied. "At least not ta me, anyways. I just think Nabiki looks better without pubes, is all."

"I see. So I take it that the collar is the most important symbol of your relationship, then."

"Yeah… speakin' of which, this is a real nice one. It looks way better on her than the dog collar we've been usin'." Indeed it did. While the dog collar had a tendency to hang loose around Nabiki's neck, this one was much more snug (though not so tight as to restrict airflow, of course), suggesting that it was actually made for human use. It was a strip of black leather, about four centimeters in width, held secure with a metal buckle at the back of the neck and prominently featuring a circular metal ring that dangled from the front to facilitate the attachment of leads and other paraphernalia.

Yugemi nodded in agreement. "They're not that expensive either, if you're willing to shop around a little."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ranma said pensively as he continued looking his pet over.

Nabiki stood before the others as stoically as possible, awaiting her first set of orders. When none came within a few seconds, she looked over to see her owner staring at her with a furrowed brow. "Master, is something wrong?"

"Nuthin'… it's just…"

"Yes?"

"Don't ya ever get embarrassed? I mean, yer standin' in front of someone we only met yesterday wearin' nuthin' but a collar, an' ya don't even have a blush."

"Well, I am somewhat embarrassed, Master," Nabiki explained. "It's just that over the years, I've gotten really good at hiding embarrassment."

This caught Yugemi's attention. "Over the years? What do you mean?"

"When you make most of your spending money through small-time gambling and information brokering, masking your emotions is essential for economic viability."

"Ah, I see."

"Uh, what the heck did you just say?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Never mind," Yugemi said. "Why don't we decide how to begin?"

As soon as Cologne shut the door to the Nekohanten's back room, the conversation with Akane began. "How are you doing today?"

Akane sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but can we just skip the pleasantries? I want this conversation to finish as soon as possible."

Cologne looked a little nonplussed, but nonetheless decided to comply with Akane's request. "Very well. What exactly is going on between Ranma and Nabiki?"

"Well, I'm not sure _exactly_ what's going on, since they've been pretty vague on the details so far, I _can_ tell you that the two of them have gotten married."

"I see… and your previous claims to the contrary?"

"I was trying to protect Nabiki from all the craziness that goes with being attached to Ranma. It didn't work."

Cologne exhaled deeply—it was as she suspected. Ranma had finally chosen someone, and it wasn't Shampoo, which meant that things were going to get a lot more complicated. Granted, the fact that he'd chosen Nabiki was still something of a surprise. "You have to excuse my bluntness, but I rather doubt Nabiki's intentions."

"If you're wondering if this is another one of her scams, it isn't. They've gotten married, and they have all the paperwork to prove it."

"But it seems so sudden…"

"Yeah, I know. From what they've told me, this isn't totally out of the blue, but they sure did a good job keeping whatever happened before a secret. Now it's my turn to be blunt: are you going to try to do anything to my sister?"

"That would hardly be wise, for several reasons."

"And those are?"

"First of all, attacking Ranma's chosen spouse is probably the surest way to destroy any affection or sympathy he may have for the attacker. Second, I suspect that _you_ would be much more formidable as an opponent if you believed that your actions were to protect your sister—I believe that you have a good deal of untapped potential that's only waiting for the proper motivation to be released, and only a complete fool would seek to become that motivation. But finally, and perhaps most importantly, attacking Nabiki would be folly under _any_ circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that despite her relative lack of skill in the martial arts, your sister is still one of the most dangerous potential opponents in Nerima. If Shampoo or I were to attack her, I suspect we would be deported in less than a week."

"So you're giving up?"

"Not just yet," Cologne explained. "While I'll grant you that this marriage has severely limited our options, at least from a practical standpoint, there are still a few possible outcomes that will allow Shampoo to save face. There's no point in taking drastic actions unless they are truly warranted."

"Really? And what outcomes would those be?"

"That," Cologne responded, "is a matter between Ranma, Nabiki, and Shampoo."

After a bit of deliberation, the trio finally decided that lesson one would focus on the manual application of short bursts of pressure to the posterior (also known as spanking). It seemed ideal; not only did it figure prominently in several of Nabiki's fantasies, but it was also a subject which Ranma approached with great trepidation—not just because he was strong enough to break his pet's hip if he overdid it, but because he still didn't quite "get" the appeal of that particular kink.

"C'mon, Master, it's not like it's a big deal," Nabiki said in mild frustration.

"Of course it's a big deal. You ain't done nuthin' recently—at least nuthin' worth spankin' ya for. What kinda owner would I be if I punished my pet for no good reason?"

"It wouldn't be a punishment—you'd just be doing it for your own gratification. After all, I _did_ say you could do whatever you wanted with me."

"Ah, I dunno…."

"Sheesh. What does a girl have to do to get a spanking around here?" Ranma's pet asked, only partly in jest.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I don't really get the point behind spankin', ya know? I mean, I know a lotta other people are into it, an' I can see how it could be a turn-on if it's bein' used for an actual punishment, but spankin' for it's own sake just don't make a lot of sense ta me."

Yugemi, who had been listening to this whole interchange, put her hand to her chin and thought silently for a few moments. Finally, she spoke: "You're really a cause-and-effect type of person, aren't you, Ranma?"

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"I mean that you're the type of person who likes to know the reason that things happen, if at all possible. And if I'm reading you correctly, you're hesitant to deal out what you see as a punishment to your pet when you don't think she's done anything to warrant that punishment. Am I correct?"

"Uh... I guess."

The attorney smiled reassuringly. "What I think you need, Ranma, is context. In this case, a specific reason to spank Nabiki."

"Yeah... that's puttin' it pretty good."

Yugemi nodded. "Now, even though you have every right to scour your recent memories to find something 'spank-worthy,' I doubt that that would fall into your definition of fairness. That's why I think we should try another tactic."

"What's that?"

"As ironic as it is, given the point your relationship is already at, I think role-playing might be the best way around this."

"Uh…"

"Rather than waiting for Nabiki to do something that you think merits a spanking, we're all going to _pretend_ that she's already done that. Think back to the time before she became your pet, when she was exploiting you. Can you think of something she did then that would justify a spanking if she did it now?"

"Uh, sure. I guess if she took photos of me and sold them, that would be something."

"Alright, then. Now, you and Nabiki are going to _pretend_ that she's had a lapse in her determination, and she gave into temptation and sold some photographs. You've just found out and you are now confronting her," Yugemi said, sounding more like a director than a teacher.

"Uh, okay… um, so, do we just jump in?"

"Yes. Just imagine what you would say if this situation were real, and say it."

"Alright…" Ranma replied hesitantly. "Uh, Nabiki, were you sellin' photos of me?" he asked his pet with a pronounced lack of enthusiasm.

"No."

This was clearly not what Ranma had expected. "What? I thought you were supposed ta be doin' this pretendin' thing, too."

"Master, if you asked me that for real, my first instinct would be to deny it."

"Oh. Uh, okay… so… where were we?"

"No, Master, I wouldn't do such a thing," Nabiki repeated.

"Oh, right." Ranma cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, then why was Kuno flashin' around more pictures of his 'pigtailed goddess?'"

"Oh… uh… well… you see…." Nabiki replied trying to come up with an excuse (no easy task, considering that she hadn't actually done what she was probably going to admit to).

"An' why did I overhear Hiroshi an' Daisuke talkin' about the new pics they got?" Ranma said with a bit more spirit in his voice.

"Maybe they got them from someone else."

"They said you were givin' a discount."

Noting that her owner's resolve was increasing (which in turn implied that he was well on his way to suspending his disbelief, Nabiki decided that this was the point where she would be cornered if this was "for real," and made her confession. "I'm… I'm sorry, Master," she said, averting her eyes in shame (which, she noticed, caused her to feel a reasonable approximation of the real emotion). "But the opportunity was there, and I… and I got greedy."

"An' do good girls get greedy?"

"No, Master."

"So what does that make you?"

"A bad girl."

"That's right. An' what happens ta bad girls?"

"They… they need to be punished."

"Right…" Ranma responded, trailing off. "Uh, Yugemi?" he whispered. "What do I do now?"

The attorney motioned to the straight-backed wooden chair that she'd retrieved from her closet while her students were engaged in the beginnings of improv erotica. "Take a seat," she said, "and have your pet lay down over your legs."

"Oh… right." That was sort of obvious.

Once owner and pet were situated, Yugemi spoke again. "Okay, before I let the two of you get back to your scene, I have some advice for you. Make sure that all of your strikes are open-handed, Ranma, and since you don't know how much pain your pet can handle, I suggest you start out with some relatively light swats and work your way up. Now, as for you, Nabiki, you need to make sure your owner knows how his blows make you feel, especially since this is the first time you've tried something like this. If the pain is too much, make sure to tell him—granted, he's not in any way obligated to _stop_ just because you don't want him to continue, but by communicating with him, you'll help him make an informed decision. Plus, this session is likely to influence the way he spanks you in the future, so any false positive feedback you give him now is likely to come back and get you in the ass, if you'll pardon the pun."

The pet nodded her understanding, so Yugemi continued: "Finally, I'll stay here to watch, and I'll intervene if I think either of you may be making any serious mistakes—but other than that, the best way to learn is through trial and error."

Ranma nodded, and after taking a few deep breaths to solidify his resolve, he raised his hand and brought it down sharply on his pet's posterior.

Nabiki inhaled sharply as the first blows came, more out of surprise from the impact than from any discomfort, at least at first. As the punishment continued and the spanks gradually increased in intensity, she couldn't help but notice that the stinging pain was a bit more intense than what her fantasies had suggested, but that was overwhelmed by the sense that her Master was enforcing the standards he'd set for her—she'd been disrespectful to him, and now she was paying the consequences. Sure, _technically_ , they were just "pretending," but Nabiki had quickly reached the point where she didn't care about technicalities. If she had done something like that, this was what Ranma _would_ do, and knowing that he wouldn't let her get away with her previous bullshit only served to reinforce the idea that she was his, and _that_ notion was the biggest turn-on she had.

These ideas continued to swirl through the mercenary girl's active imagination, until all of a sudden her feigned punishment was brought to a screeching halt. "Nabiki?" Ranma asked after several seconds.

"Yes?" his pet responded between heavy breaths.

"Do ya think you've been punished enough?"

It was then that Nabiki realized that she'd forgotten to clearly communicate with her owner; she'd allowed herself to assume that Ranma knew what her limits were, even though she had no basis for such an assumption. It was time for a cold, honest assessment of her situation—a purely erotic spanking could wait for another time, when her Master had more experience with it. "I… I'm not sure, Master. It… it hurts, but I think I can take a little more… if you think I need it…."

"I noticed yer gettin' wet."

"Yes…" She actually hadn't been paying too much attention to that, but it was hardly surprising—this was a fantasy of hers, and she was quite turned on, so it was only natural that her body would respond accordingly.

Ranma paused, though whether it was in deliberation or to create suspense was beyond Nabiki's comprehension at the moment. Finally, the silence was interrupted by three more slaps—harder than before, but still within Nabiki's tolerance for pain. The sudden surprise released enough emotional tension to cause the pet to release her physical tension in the form of an orgasm, emitting a moan that was equal parts pleasure and anguish.

As Ranma wiped his now somewhat-sticky hand on his pant leg, he stood his pet up and made his own pronouncement: "Yeah, I think that's enough."

Shiori ran her fingers through her short, black hair, breathing a sigh of relief as she approached the door to her Mistress' home. She'd just finished negotiating a new contract with a pair of particularly finicky clients, which had left her emotionally drained. A day or two of recharging was just what she needed, and she was more than ready to hand over control to Yugemi.

The two actually made for an interesting pair; where Yugemi had a classically beautiful face framed in a feminine hairstyle, Shiori's face seemed much more practical—though that was likely a result of her short, wiry hairstyle, which she hadn't allowed to reach even to her shoulders in years. But despite the stereotypically 'butch' haircut, there was still a feminine grace to the way she carried herself, enough to make her approachable to all but the most paranoid homophobes in her potential client base. She'd met up with Yugemi at an upscale lesbian bar nearly four years earlier. Yugemi had told her about the lifestyle on the first date, she'd agreed to try it out by the fourth date, and six months later, the pair had made a long-term commitment, and Shiori had never been more satisfied with her romantic life.

Of course, little, if any of this was on her mind as she unlocked her Mistress' front door. "Yugemi… I'm home."

Upon hearing her slave's voice, Yugemi was quick to enter the living room. She'd told her students that she was only leaving to take "a break," but really, she'd been waiting for her favorite teaching aid to show up—the first two hours had been proceeding nicely, but there were some things that just required a good demonstration. "About time," she said in mock frustration before flipping a collar to the slightly shorter woman. "Put it on; we don't have much time to waste."

Shiori seemed a little stunned as she stared at the symbolic leather strip in her hands. "Wow… that was fast." Normally, her Mistress allowed for some time to transition to a properly submissive mindset.

"We have company. Two new students have enrolled in our 'adult education' program."

"And they scheduled their first classes immediately?"

"Actually, I'm sort of sheltering them while a potentially thorny legal situation calms down at home. The lessons are just something for them to do while they're here."

"Legal situation? So you took them in as a favor for some other attorney, and they turned out to be curious?"

"No, they're my clients, and I already knew a little bit about their proclivities."

"But… I thought you didn't do this sort of thing with your clients. You know, all that about stuff about how a misapplication of the lifestyle can distort an appropriate attorney-client relationship?"

"I do know, Shiori, but I assure you, these are not ordinary clients, and by the same token, they aren't ordinary newbies."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out," Yugemi told her slave with a sly wink.

"Right…" the submissive interior designer responded as she put on her collar. "So, what's the make-up?"

"Two teenagers. Heterosexual couple… male Dominant."

"Okay," Shiori responded. That wasn't really a problem, even though she thought of herself as a lesbian; as long as it was under direct orders and her Mistress was present, she was willing to at least try almost anything with a man—well, in theory she'd try almost anything. In practice, however, she still had limits that she rarely (if ever) crossed, but her Mistress usually respected those unspoken boundaries. However, the pause was a bit out of the ordinary for her normally perceptive owner. "So, they're still experimenting with roles?"

"Oh, no, my dear. Far from it."

"I hope my Mistress will forgive my lack of comprehension," Shiori said elevating her voice to more formal tones—which, at this stage, was more a sign of playfulness than any submergence into role-playing.

"I probably wouldn't if it wasn't such a mind-fuck to begin with," Yugemi said with a smirk.

"Excuse me?"

"You'll see," came the cryptic reply.

"Alright," Shiori said, deciding to drop the issue; clearly, her Mistress had a surprise in store. "So, what safe-word are they using?"

"None."

"Their safe-word is 'none?'" That didn't seem like a particularly good idea; any safe-word that could be mistaken for a grunt was just asking for trouble.

"No, I mean that they aren't using any."

"What?!"

"It's a bit odd, I know, but they started off by jumping into the deep end, and so far it seems to be working out reasonably well for them."

"And you didn't advise them against this, Mistress?"

"Oh, I did, at first. But the sub clearly believes that she's too inherently manipulative to be trusted with any sort of power whatsoever."

"Topping from the bottom?"

"That's what she wants to avoid—in fact, the whole 'no safe-word' thing was her idea to begin with. Apparently, she had a history of exploiting her owner for her own amusement and profit. I've called a few contacts I have in their neighborhood—she's got quite a reputation for cold-blooded, scheming ruthlessness. Plus, her enthusiasm seems to be offset quite a bit by his cautiousness. He does not want his pet to get hurt."

"Well, cautiousness is generally a good thing with new Dominants, right?"

"Yes—particularly in his case."

"Huh?"

"Apparently, he's a very powerful martial artist—punches holes in concrete, that sort of thing."

"Like in chop-socky flicks?"

"I suppose. I haven't had the chance to see him demonstrate anything like that, but given that he's supposed to be near the top of Nerima's martial artist community, he has to be pretty strong."

Shiori nodded. "And he wants to make sure he doesn't cause permanent damage when he punishes his pet, right?"

"Actually, he'd rather avoid punishing her altogether."

"What?"

"Well, actually, that's not right either. I'm sure he'd like to punish her, but to do so when she hasn't disobeyed him just doesn't sit well with him."

"Has he tried giving her conflicting orders?"

"When I suggested _that_ , he looked at me like I was some sort of war criminal. That's pretty much the same thing as punishment for its own sake, at least in his mind, and that goes against his sense of fair play."

"Well, then the sub can just break a rule on purpose, right?"

"Ah, but that would mean she'd want to be punished, and thus it wouldn't be a punishment anymore."

" _What?!"_

"It's like a joke I once heard: What's the difference between a sadist and a masochist?"

"I don't know… what?"

"The masochist says 'Hit me!' and the sadist says 'No.'"

"Oh, brother. What about when they're role-playing?"

"Actually, he's still getting his head around that concept."

"Geez, this guy's really setting himself up for a boring sex life, isn't he?"

"Somehow, I doubt _any_ sort of sex life between those two would be boring… but I really don't think it'll be that much of a problem. He just has to learn how to get into the right frame of mind. Most of the time, he sees himself as her caretaker, rather than her lover."

"I think I understand, Mistress… but still, isn't it usually the other way around?"

"Indeed it is, which is why helping him learn how to treat his sub is going to be so interesting; he has a completely different set of misconceptions that need clearing up than your average wannabe Dom."

"Got it. And will I be helping his sub better understand her role?"

"Naturally. I don't think she really knows how to make sure her owner gets what he needs out of their relationship, probably because she sees him as a lover first, and a caretaker second."

"Got it. So, once we have the basic nature-of-the-relationship stuff taken care of, we can move on to more 'specialized' lessons?"

"Exactly. I think these two will be excellent students—both of them are quite driven to succeed."

"But still, for total newbs to go that far, that fast?"

"I wouldn't call them _total_ newbs, actually. The Dom actually has a pretty broad theoretical knowledge already: he found some sort of centuries-old sex guide that has stuff that even _I've_ never heard of before."

"I see… so, I take it that he won't be the only Dominant learning new things in our classroom?"

"I certainly hope not."

"So, what are their names?"

"Ranma and Nabiki Saotome. Newlyweds."

"I thought you said they were teenagers?"

"They are. Long story, and most of it has to be edited due to attorney-client privilege. You can ask them about it later. Right now, we need to get back to the classroom—don't worry about clothing; you can strip down there, after you meet them."

"Got it. Our safe-word is still 'martini,' right?"

"Of course."

Yugemi seemed intent on introducing her slave to the new students as soon as possible, and thus ordered Shiori to head to her quarters to change into her "standard outfit" (i.e. absolutely nothing save her collar) while she went to her room to change out of the jeans and t-shirt that she'd been wearing all morning and into something a bit more "traditional," which in the context of the Aitsu residence generally involved thigh-high black leather boots, a black leather corset, and perhaps black satin opera gloves, though on this instance the Domme elected to forgo the last of these items. When both women were thus properly attired, Yugemi lead her slave downstairs to meet the happy couple, who were already engrossed in some experimentation.

The scene was hardly what Shiori had expected, especially from a pair of newbies who had (dangerously, in her gut-reaction opinion) placed almost no limits on their relationship, particularly since her Mistress usually advised that new long-term pairings take a fairly methodical examination of the sub's tolerance levels for pain, restriction, and other things that could conceivably have an adverse effect if a Dominant was lacking in knowledge of his or her submissive's comfort levels. Thus, Shiori was accustomed to progressively harder spankings and whippings to test pain levels, or progressively more restrictive forms of bondage—jumping straight into technique just wasn't Mistress' style. That said, to her knowledge, Mistress had never before agreed to mentor two people who had dived headfirst into the 24/7 aspect of the lifestyle, and _certainly_ no students had come to them having already read a book that was filled with techniques that Mistress had never heard of, let alone contemplated trying, so perhaps this was an unusual case to begin with.

In any case, the submissive lay on her back on one of the tables from Mistress Yugemi's Closet of Mystery™, her wrists and ankles firmly in cuffs attached to the four corners, which essentially forced her into a spread-eagled position. Not surprisingly, the girl ("Nabiki," presumably) was nude save for a leather collar and a matching blindfold, and all in all appeared to be reveling in the helplessness of her situation, which from the appreciative if somewhat stifled moans interspersed between gasps and shudders was apparently being enhanced by what her Dom ("Ranma," if Shiori remembered correctly) was doing to her at the moment, though _what_ exactly he was doing seemed a bit... odd.

The young man didn't even come close to the state of undress that his pet was in; at the moment, he was bare-chested (both in the sense of not being covered with fabric _or_ body hair) and barefoot, but was still wearing a pair of black trousers that appeared to be made of... silk? This caught Shiori by surprise, as "silk" was most definitely _not_ one of the fabric materials stereotypically associated with the lifestyle. _Is this what Mistress meant by a "surprise"? A silk fetish?_ As intriguing as the possibility was, Shiori dismissed the idea (at least temporarily) when she got a good look at the Dom's actions, which looked like the flourishes of a stage magician slowed down to the pace of a Tai Chi exercise, as the young man ran his hands over the body of his pet—not _on_ , but _over_ , as in "hovering 2-3 centimeters above the skin without ever actually touching it." This was done in almost total silence, with nary a floorboard creak underfoot, which made absolutely no sense, since the blindfolded girl was clearly reacting to his nonexistent ministrations—but if she couldn't see, hear, or feel what her Master was doing, how did she know how to react?

Fortunately (for Shiori, at least), Ranma looked up and noticed the room's two new occupants. "Oh, hey, Yugemi. Didn't see ya come down. I take it your friend is..."

"Indeed she is. Ranma, this is Shiori. Shiori, say hello to Ranma and Nabiki."

"I look forward to assisting you in your efforts to enhance your mutual gratification."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, clearly not understanding what the naked woman with the short black hair was talking about.

Yugemi snapped her fingers in mild consternation. "I _knew_ I forgot something. You needn't use such flowery language, Shiori—Ranma's personality isn't exactly suited for it."

"I understand, Mistress. May I ask him a question?"

"For right now, you can ask him whatever you like, though he's in no way obligated to give you any answers whatsoever."

"I understand, Mistress." Shiori's attention moved back to Ranma. "Um, sir, what exactly were you doing? It didn't seem like you were touching your slave—"

"Pet," the young man corrected with obvious (if mild) irritation.

"I'm sorry. But it seemed like your pet was reacting to something, but you didn't seem to be doing anything other than moving your hands around over her."

"Oh, that. That's a technique from my book. Basically, I'm concentratin' ki into my hands and sendin' it into Nabs' body. Supposed ta be a real interestin' physical sensation, an' Yugemi says a lotta women get stimulated by those sorts of things."

"Physical sensation?"

"Yeah, Nabs says it's kinda like the pins an' needles thing that happens when yer foot falls asleep, except this travels all over yer body. Also, it feels warm, which makes sense, since it's basically concentrated life energy."

"Um, could someone explain what's going on? Who's there?" asked the still-blindfolded and restrained Nabiki.

"Ah, it's nuthin' major—Yugemi's just came back down with her slave, that's all."

"Oh... um, really? I mean... is, um, is that all, Master?" Nabiki said with a few nervous laughs. Somehow, the thought of being on display in front of another submissive, particularly one who likely had much more experience than her, made her previously asserted skill at hiding embarrassment retreat; it was almost as though she was now going to have her submissiveness judged by someone who knew exactly what that part of the lifestyle was all about, and there was a tinge of worry that any failings in this regard would reflect badly on her Master, and it simply would not do for any sub to have a low opinion of Master, even if the sub wasn't his.

Ranma smiled at his pet's discomfort and walked over to the pair. "So, uh, Shiori?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Whaddya think of her?"

Shiori wasn't certain why he asked for her opinion, but after a nod from her own Mistress, she proceeded to give it. "I think she looks very pretty. She obviously takes good care of her body, and to be honest, seeing her makes me wish I was in her place." _If only to find out what the hell you were actually doing to her._

"If ya think she looks pretty, ya outta try touchin' her, 'cuz she _feels_ great."

"Master?" Nabiki asked in a mild panic, her breath growing noticeably more rapid.

Seeing that the girl was rather obviously starting to get excited (and likely in the best sense of the term), Shiori looked to her Mistress for approval, which she received in the form of another nod. The slave walked up to the restrained girl and lightly ran her hand over her taut stomach, eliciting a gasp. "Very nice—this pet obviously knows how to take care of her body: nice muscle tone, with just enough fat under the skin to produce smooth feminine curves." The slave slid her hands up to Nabiki's breasts, an action which, not surprisingly, caused Nabiki to moan softly as Shiori began kneading and tweaking the wonderfully sized globes on her chest.

"Heh... she's always like that when girls touch her," Ranma quietly told his instructor in a statement that was technically true, now that a female other than his girl form was fondling his pet's tits.

"Nice to see that even you have some typical aspects to your sexuality," Yugemi idly replied.

"Huh? Oh, ya mean the girl-on-girl thing? Sure, I guess, but it's not just for me."

"How so?"

"Well, I'm pretty certain Nabs here is kinda bi-curious, but she wants me ta _make_ her explore it, ya know? I mean, she don't normally have a lot of fantasies about bein' with other women, but she seems ta like the idea that I can make her experiment anyway."

"That makes sense."

"It does?"

"Sure. In this context, she's allowed to enjoy sexual contact with another woman, but since she's doing it to please _you_ , a man, it doesn't threaten her relative heterosexuality."

"Okay... I'm gonna assume that what ya just said made sense." Meanwhile, Shiori was finding a simple delight at pushing the boundaries of her fellow submissive's comfort zone—and as she moved her hands across the teenage girl's skin, it was rather obvious that being touched by another woman so sensually was still quite a ways outside that boundary. "My goodness, you are a _fine_ catch; your Dom is certainly a lucky guy."

Nabiki, however, was not exactly in the right frame of mind to hear the compliment. "I... oh... I'm not normally like this..."

"Honey, from what Mistress told me about the two of you, you've _never_ had a normal sex life, and with any luck, you never will."

"Not... not that... uhh... I mean... I mean the... the..."

"The fact that a lesbian is running her hands all over you (for which I'm very grateful, by the way)? Or the fact that you're obviously getting turned on by it?" Shiori slyly dragged her fingers across Nabiki's inner thigh, resulting in a wordless shudder and a barely restrained smile. "I'll take that as an 'all of the above,' I suppose," the slave/teaching assistant said.

"But I'm straight..." Nabiki replied weakly, not entirely certain if that was the case anymore.

"Honey, when you put that collar on, your orientation is whatever the hell your Dom wants it to be." This seemed to calm the girl down a bit, though if the small beads of sweat forming on her skin was any indication, she was ready for more. Shiori briefly considered waiting for further instructions, but, remembering the Dom's tendency to wait for actual context before getting to the _really_ fun stuff, decided to provide that context herself. She moved her hand to the edge of Nabiki's womanhood. "Let's see how just how far you've gone, shall we?" she asked, inserting a finger inside the slick folds.

"N-no! I'm not supposed to..." The teenaged pet might have been able to finish her sentence, but since Shiori had decided that the quality of orgasm in this instance was far less important than forcing Nabiki to disobey her Master, and thus could afford to make this one a "quickie," rather than going the extra mile for a truly mind-blowing orgasm. Given the fact that Nabiki had already gone through some incredible foreplay before the other sub had even shown up, this turned out to be quite speedy indeed—but unfortunately, even though it was a subpar cum, it was enough to get Nabiki to vocalize. "Ah, aahhh!"

Naturally, this attracted the attention of the two Dominants, wrenching them from their conversation. "What the hell?" Ranma exclaimed, seeing Shiori's hand still in the "cookie jar," as it were.

"Um, oops?" Shiori said, trying her best to look innocent (and failing miserably).

"Don't 'oops' me, bitch," Yugemi said sternly. "Where do you get off getting Ranma's pet off?"

"I, uh, got carried away?"

"Nabiki's orgasms belong to _Ranma_ and no one else, and you went and enjoyed one without permission, either from me or him. There will be consequences for this."

"I know, Mistress," Shiori replied with her head downcast, though this wasn't enough to hide her smirk. Sure, she'd pay for her insolence, but odds were good that it would be worth it—especially since she pulled stunts like these all the time with newbie subs.

Ranma, meanwhile, wasn't mad—he was just disappointed. "An' here I thought ya were committed ta learnin' ta control yerself," he said to his pet, pulling the blindfold off.

"I... I don't..."

"I mean, you say you ain't even inta girls all that much, an' then this?"

"It... it wasn't a big one."

"Who cares?! Like Yugemi just said, all yer orgasms belong ta _me_ , no matter how 'good' they are."

"Sorry, Master."

"It appears, Ranma," Yugemi said diplomatically, "that we have some insubordination to deal with."

"Huh? What does supper have ta do with anything?"

"Let me try that again. They broke the rules, and therefore need to be punished."

"But... Nabiki was just caught up in the moment. She didn't mean it."

"True, but try to look at it this way: You're trying to teach your pet self-control, correct?"

"Right..."

"Well, allowing oneself getting caught up in the moment is hardly behavior that leads to greater self-control. Thus, if you're going to train her properly, you'll need to correct inappropriate behavior."

"Alright, I'll grant ya that, but your slave-girl had a part in it, too. I mean, look at her: she's still got a smile a mile wide, just because she's gotten Nabs in trouble."

"Guilty as charged," Shiori admitted.

Yugemi sighed playfully. "I know what you mean, Ranma—it's bad enough that she gets on these rebellious streaks, but to encourage it in other sub-missives? Inexcusable."

"Right. So, what's gonna happen to her?"

"Well, I do have an idea or two that I'd like to run by you..."

Cologne, to put it mildly, had not been very enthused by the prospect of relaying the information she'd received from Akane to her great-granddaughter. Fortunately, the lunchtime rush had managed to keep the entire staff of the Nekohanten busy for an hour or two, which should have given her enough time to come up with a halfway decent approach, at least in theory.

However, theory and reality are completely different animals, and when Shampoo inevitably got the chance to ask her great-grandmother about her brief meeting with the "Kitchen Destroyer," Cologne had still not come up with any ideas that were better than being blunt and getting it over with as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the young Amazon reacted- _exactly_ as expected: "Shampoo's life over!"

"Now, now, it may not be as bad as we think."

Cologne had tried to be as encouraging as possible, but at the moment, Shampoo did not seem to want any encouragement to begin with. "Now must kill Airen again! Shampoo not want to do that!"

"My dear, you shouldn't be jumping to conclusions like that."

"But… how Shampoo keep honor as Amazon?"

"There are ways around the standard rules and regulations regarding Outsiders, particularly when there are special circumstances at play."

"And these are special?" Shampoo asked hopefully.

"I don't know… but we will find out, and my instincts are telling me that there is a way out of this that will allow you to keep your honor without having to get in trouble with the Japanese authorities."

"But… but Shampoo not just want to keep honor—want Airen, too."

"You never know… there may yet be a way to achieve that, as well."

"Great-grandmother really think so?"

"Of course." Granted, Cologne didn't have a clue what such a way might even look like right now, but that didn't mean such a solution did not exist. "We just need a little more information at the moment." The Matriarch hopped down from her perch on her staff and headed to her room.

"Where Great-Grandmother going?"

"To make a phone call."

After some deliberation, Ranma had decided that the best punishment for Nabiki's relatively minor infraction was to continue on with more specific instruction designed to further expand the boundaries of her comfort zone. Furthermore, as Yugemi believed that research was an integral part of learning, she'd volunteered her slave-girl to serve as a "research assistant." This, however, had initially confused Shiori, as subject at hand was the fine art of cunnilingus, which she had assumed would involve having Nabiki eat her out or vice versa, with the outside possibility that it would be Ranma who'd be doing the muff diving while she attempted to pretend he was female.

What she most certainly _hadn't_ expected was that she would be performing the act on _Ranma_ , which made absolutely no sense—until an upturned glass of cold water had revealed exactly what made this couple so special that her Mistress had chosen to disregard her self-imposed rules about the attorney-client relationship. "You… you're… how did… are those…?"

"Real?" Ranma-chan finished, hefting her sizable breasts for emphasis. "You bet they are, an' they've helped turn my life into a train wreck."

"But that's impossible!"

"Only if there's no such thing as magic," Nabiki replied. "My Mistress fell into a cursed spring while training in China about a year ago."

"I told you it was a mind-fuck, didn't I?" Yugemi asked her slave rhetorically. "This is the reason that these two need your help with research into oral sex. Nabiki, for obvious reasons, has very little skill at it, and Ranma can't help her improve because she doesn't really know what techniques work best for her. Obviously, they could learn that on their own with practice, but I see no reason not to give them a head start, particularly since you've shown such skill at this in the past."

This was true—Shiori often ate out women who were "exploring" their sexuality during her Mistress' lessons. However, they had all been _women_ , not men with genetically female bodies. "Are you certain, Mistress?"

"Of course! When are you going to get another chance to push your comfort zone like this?"

"Well, since you insist… would you mind sitting in that chair, Ranma-san?" she asked the nude redhead, motioning towards the straight-backed wooden chair her Mistress had extracted from the Closet of Mystery™.

Ranma did so, leaning back and spreading her knees so the slave could better perform her task. "Come over here, Nabiki—I wanna make sure you got a good view of what's goin' on." This, in turn, cause a brief delay, as Ranma's pet attempted to find an appropriate angle that wouldn't interfere with Shiori's assignment. She eventually settled lying beneath the chair with her head just sticking out of the feet, giving her an excellent view not only of her Mistress' snatch, but of Shiori's breasts as well.

But even though everyone was in place, Shiori still hesitated—she simply could not take her eyes off of Ranma's pussy, which was absolutely perfect. She'd seen a few post-op transsexuals before, but even the best of these could only be described as "adequate." This, on the other hand, was a real, honest-to-goodness vagina, with all the delicate folds that one would expect of such an organ—heck, it was even starting to moisten a bit as Ranma's anticipation grew. The redhead, however, mistook fascination for disdain. "Yeah, I know, my pubes are real scraggly. I'm really startin' ta consider shavin' them off altogether."

"Oh, no, there's nothing wrong with your pubic hair," Shiori replied. Granted, she didn't generally go in for such an unkempt look, but in this case, it seemed to fit Ranma's personality, in a way.

"Then I suggest you not delay our guests any further," Yugemi said, which Shiori took as a signal to get to work, diving into what was likely to be the most exotic pussy she'd ever tasted. She worked somewhat methodically, attempting to stimulate each part of Ranma's womanhood before beginning the process of refining a technique. While Nabiki's view still wasn't perfect, she could tell that whatever Shiori was doing was working, given her owners increasingly loud moans.

Ranma, for her part, wasn't really paying all that much attention to the mechanics of what Shiori was doing—according to Yugemi, that would have been an unnecessary obstacle. No, for this session, Ranma only needed to pay attention to what felt good, and then Shiori would inform Nabiki on how best to replicate it. And at the moment, Ranma was quite glad to be free of the need to provide instruction beyond "Yeah," "That's good," and "More," since the ministrations of her lawyer's slave-girl were driving her wild—and with minimal use of her fingers to support her tongue, at that. It hadn't been a long, slow buildup, but rather one of peaks and valleys, with each peak increasing in altitude.

She had known that an actual lesbian would probably be better at this than someone like Nabiki, of course, but this… _this_ …. Ranma moaned loudly as she grabbed Shiori's head and pressed it into her folds with enough force to make the latter briefly consider using her safe-word (assuming it wouldn't have gotten muffled by the redhead's legs), having just experiences what was hands down the most intense orgasm she'd ever had in her female body.

Shiori managed to get her head out into the open again before wiping some of the stray juices from around her mouth. "I take it you liked that?"

Ranma was breathing heavily. "Yeah…. How the heck did ya do that?"

"By directly stimulating your clitoris with my tongue—it's not something I'd necessarily try with most women, but then, you're hardly 'most women,' and I figured that a different approach might be in order. Was I right?"

"Yeah… I mean, sure, it was intense—really intense—but I definitely liked it when ya did that. I guess it felt sorta familiar, like blowjob, but smashed into one little spot, if that makes any sense."

"It does, actually," Shiori replied. "In fact, it was what I was going for. You see, since the clitoris is analogous to the penis, I thought there might be a degree of familiarity if I stimulated it, even though it's much, much more sensitive."

"Yeah… yeah, I definitely liked that. What do you think, Nabiki?"

Ranma's pet simply sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "It's your clit, Mistress. If you want me to play with it, I will."

"Ya don't sound all that enthusiastic."

"With all due respect, Mistress, it isn't easy for a straight girl to get enthusiastic about eating pussy. Although…"

"Yeah?"

"Never mind. It's silly."

"You? Thinkin' of somethin' silly? Now I gotta hear it. Spill the beans, now."

Nabiki sighed, though this was more from embarrassment than frustration. "It's just that I felt… jealous. I mean, I know that the whole marriage thing is to keep up appearances—I'm pretty sure I've made it clear that you can do what you want. But I wanted…."

"You wanted what?" Ranma asked, clearly not understanding what his pet was dancing around.

"I don't know."

"May I hazard a guess?" Yugemi interjected.

"Is it going to involve some cockamamie theory about us being in love without realizing it?" Nabiki asked derisively.

"Well, I wasn't actually planning on telling you about it, but yes, that is the gist of my first guess. However, I have another theory that you may find more palatable."

"Okay," Ranma replied. "Shoot."

"Nabiki may be relatively heterosexual, but from what I've learned about her, she's also _extremely_ competitive. This competitiveness is, in turn, even being applied to her submission. In other words, she doesn't just want to please you; she wants to be better at pleasing you than anybody else. That's where her mixed emotions are coming from: while she probably isn't all that thrilled that you obviously intend to have her eat you out in the future, she can't stand the idea that someone else is better at it than she is."

"She anywhere close?" Ranma asked her pet.

"It's closer than the stupid love idea," Nabiki responded.

"Well, then I'm glad that's been settled," Shiori said. "So, are we breaking for lunch, then?"

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Yugemi interjected. "There's still the matter of your punishment to deal with."

"Punishment? But, Mistress, didn't I just do that?"

"Oh, come on. You're a lesbian: how on earth can you possibly expect me to consider performing oral sex on a woman to be a _punishment_?"

"But she's really a man—"

"Mentally, yes. But physiologically, hell no—at least, not at the moment. No, this was just a set up to Nabiki's punishment."

"Mine?" Ranma's pet asked somewhat meekly.

"Sure," her owner replied. "Now that I got a better idea of how I liked ta be eaten out, you an' me are gonna practice 'til ya get it right."

"But… won't you be sensitive after the first few times?"

"Nabs, compared ta some of the endurance training my Pops has put me through, this'll be like a vacation. But more importantly, yer tryin' ta get outta yer carpet-munchin' duties again, which means _I'm_ gonna get ta try out some of those arm restraints on ya."

Nabiki blanched a bit when she heard this; the cunnilingus was bad enough, but trying to do it without using her arms for balance would crank the awkwardness up another level. She decided to capitulate before she got herself into even more trouble. "I'm sorry, Mistress. Thank you for allowing me to learn how to please you."

"Now _that's_ more like it."

"And what shall I be doing, Mistress?" Shiori asked with her head hanging down slightly.

Yugemi merely smirked and replied, "Helping."

It took some time for Cologne to contact her attorney—after all, it was the weekend, and thus calling the office just resulted in an automated voicemail service. Fortunately, Cologne was one of the few people who had access to her attorney's home phone number, and when she finally got through, it took nearly five minutes to explain the situation.

"So, that's basically where we stand right now; Xian Pu's fiancé has selected another suitor, leaving our list of options rather thin, since most of those that will maintain her honor within the Tribe don't exactly match up very well with Japanese law. However, since you were able to secure all the permits we needed for the Nekohanten on such short noticed, I assume that you will be able to help us out of this pickle.

"There's no time limit _per se_ , but only because we have no idea how long it will take word of this to get back home to Jusenkyo. Still, I'd say we have at least a week to come up with a solution. Perhaps we could visit you at your office before then? Impossible? Well, then what if we meet you at your home? I assure you that we won't be a bother, and we will, of course, be paid extra.

"Very good—thank you. So, tonight, then? That's excellent. We'll see you—what's that? Oh, of course. His name is Ranma Saotome.

"Hello? Ms. Aitsu, are you still there?"

Ranma was quite pleased with the scenario she and Yugemi had devised to teach Nabiki how to properly eat out her Mistress. The redhead remained seated in the chair, with her pet kneeling before her, hands cuffed to her ankles, preparing to administer the oral pleasure her Mistress desired. But what really made this special was _how_ Nabiki was to learn exactly what Ranma liked: by copying what Shiori was doing to her. Yugemi's slave-girl had already spent several minutes on her back, holding Nabiki's hips against her face to discover _her_ preferences (Nabiki really seemed to respond to stimulation near the entrance of her womanhood, with the occasional light grazing of her clit), as that method would serve as the "reward" during the following training exercise.

Thus, Shiori would alternate between "the way Nabiki likes it" (when Ranma's pet was doing well), and "the way Ranma likes it" (when she wasn't). This, Ranma presumed, would provide adequate motivation to get it right, since it seemed that not many women enjoyed direct stimulation of the clitoris to the degree that she did. In other words, the situation promised to be very uncomfortable, but still at least somewhat enjoyable—the ideal kind of punishment, in Ranma's opinion. Nabiki had that "I'm-really-scared-that-I-might-enjoy-this" look on her face that her Mistress was really starting to take pleasure in—in other words, she was being pressed against the boundary of her comfort zone again, and was about to be forcibly pushed over it.

The only thing that wasn't going as planned was the fact Yugemi had to leave the dungeon to take a phone call. Not that Ranma particularly cared whether there was an audience, but this _was_ the first time someone else had entrusted her submissive to his care, if only for a few minutes. She wasn't entirely certain, but her instinct told her that that spoke very well of the attorney's opinion of her client—an opinion that Ranma hoped she could live up to. Still, according to Yugemi, as long as she remembered Shiori's safe-word ("martini"), the risks would be minimal. In any case, to compensate for her absence, she'd placed a vibrating dildo deep into her slave's pussy, and Shiori even had permission to orgasm freely as a reward for being such a good helper.

"You ready, Shiori?" Ranma asked.

"Absolutely," the slave-girl truthfully replied—over the course of her Mistress' "lessons," she'd developed a bit of a kink for eating out straight girls.

"How about you, Nabs?"

"Would it make any difference if I said 'no,' Mistress?"

The redhead smiled at her pet. "Ya know, you can be really cute when you get snarky. Show her what I like, Shiori!"

As Nabiki was already suitably aroused from their previous bout of "experimenting," the slavegirl didn't waste a second, diving into her pussy and immediately licking the clitoris as roughly as possible, causing Nabiki's eyes to widen. _Too much! Too much!_ This was **way** more intense than anything she'd ever done while masturbating. "No! Not that rough!"

"Nabiki," Ranma said calmly. Nabiki looked up to see her owner with a serious look on her face. "You were the one who didn't want a safe-word, remember?"

For what seemed to be the first time, the implications of not having a safety net set in on Nabiki. It didn't matter that she didn't like it—if Ranma wanted her to be treated roughly, then so it would be. Staring at her owner's stern expression, Nabiki actually felt somewhat afraid—and incredibly turned on. She was Ranma's pet, and Ranma's enjoyment came first, and always would. "I—I'm sorry, Mistress. But she's being s-so rough…"

"Because that's the way I like it. And until you start being a good girl and munchin' my carpet the way I like it, Shiori ain't gonna go back to doing it the way _you_ like it."

"Of course. Sorry, Mistress."

"You can't talk and eat pussy at the same time…."

"Right." Nabiki leaned forward, burying her face in her owner's red pubic hair until she found the small bump over her womanhood. She immediately commenced licking, much to Ranma's satisfaction.

"Ohh, yeah… that's it. You can ease up, Shiori."

Almost immediately, the intensity subsided, replaced by a pleasant, gentle stimulation just inside the labia minora with occasional grazing of the clitoral hood from what Nabiki assumed was the tip of Shiori's nose. Nabiki let out a short, appreciative moan; it was hard to believe that not two days ago being eaten out by another woman would have unsettled her to no end—a case of knocking something before she tried it, apparently.

Unfortunately, Nabiki's appreciation of her fellow sub's skills caused her mind to drift. "Gotta keep up the pace, Nabs. Crank it, Shiori!"

The intensity of Shiori's stimulation shot up again as she returned her focus to Nabiki's clit. Fortunately, the pet girl got the hint this time, increasing the ferocity of her own ministrations, which soon convinced Ranma to have Shiori pull back once again. This seemed to content Nabiki's owner, since her responses were reduced to extremely satisfied moans for what had to be at least a minute, perhaps two. The only additional instruction she received from the redhead was not to neglect her actual pussy—an order which would have been easier if her hands had been free. Still, it seemed that she quickly found the balance her Mistress liked, since Shiori didn't return things to "Ranma-level" intensity.

Speaking of which, Nabiki was starting to squirm from the more subtle cunnilingus she was receiving, and she could feel Shiori's hands clamping down on her hips in an effort to halt the involuntary twisting. She was nearing her limits, approaching another orgasm—which simply wasn't an option, since Ranma had not given her permission to cum. Were she to do so now, _before_ her Mistress, during an exercise which was essentially a punishment for having an unauthorized orgasm, that would mean… Well, she didn't exactly _know_ what it would mean, but she wasn't certain she wanted to find out. Mistress _had_ to cum first.

Nabiki increased the vigor of her licking, much to Ranma's approval. "Ugh… yeah… that's so… _good_ … getting close… Shiori, show her how you finished me off!"

The pet girl gasped audibly as Shiori placed her lips on her clit and began drawing in her breath, creating a feeling of suction that she'd never even dreamed possible. Nabiki quickly responded in kind on her Mistress, who voiced her approval. "Yes… yes! Suck it like it's a dick! God _damn_! Good… so… _good_ …. I'm cumming!" Nabiki's face was suddenly slick with her Mistress' juices, but that hardly mattered—what was important was that Shiori had returned to the more gentle stimulation that she preferred. She lay her head on her owner's thigh as she attempted to catch her breath; she hadn't even noticed how much she'd been sweating.

"Hey, did I say you could stop?!" came her Mistress' voice.

"No, you didn't, but she'll have to, anyway," Yugemi replied as she returned to the dungeon. "Things just got a _lot_ more complicated."

When Shampoo woke up, she wasn't certain what was more disconcerting: that she was in a room she'd never seen before, or that she couldn't actually remember falling asleep. She clearly remembered walking up to a large house with her great-grandmother, who said it was the home of their attorney. Cologne rang the doorbell, the door began to open, and then… nothing. Well, the young Amazon had vague memories of _something_ happening, but those could very well have been placeholder memories, since there logically had to have been some steps between the doorstep and the couch she currently lay on.

Shampoo sat up and looked out the window. _Morning…_ But which morning? Tuesday? Wednesday? Even later in the week? Shampoo was feeling quite concerned—though, oddly enough, she didn't feel a very strong feeling of panic. If anything, the emotion that flowed through her was one of resignation—no, not resignation. Relief.

"Ah, you're up." Shampoo turned around to see her great-grandmother perched on her staff with a faint flicker of a smile on her lips. "For a minute, I thought that Ranma had overdone his sleep command, but it appears that he's a natural at this, just like everything else."

"What… what happened?"

Cologne sighed. "That's a much more difficult question to answer, mostly because I've promised to withhold some information from you, for reasons that will become clear later. You remember that I told you that Ranma had coincidentally hired the same attorney that we employed to establish the Nekohanten?"

"Yes. Shampoo was on doorstep to her house."

"And you are currently in her living room."

"What day?"

"It's Tuesday—and I am personally stunned that we managed to hammer out everything in only one night. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our lawyer, Ms. Aitsu, facilitated a meeting between us, and Ranma and Nabiki Saotome."

"Then… they are married?"

Cologne nodded solemnly. "Indeed. However, that is not quite the obstacle we thought it was. We were able to work out a solution that will allow you to keep all of the honor entitled to you."

"Sounds complicated."

"Actually, it wasn't. You see, during our conversation, some information came to light that changed the way I viewed the entire situation. One of the most important of these is that Ranma has been dabbling in hypnosis, and not surprisingly, he's got a natural talent for it. He wanted to know how you truly felt about him, so you agreed to let him put you under—with my supervision, of course. Thus, he learned that you truly do love him, and haven't merely been pursuing him out of duty. That, along with some other information that you revealed about yourself, is what allowed the deal to be made."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't want me to."

Shampoo looked very confused at this. "I don't? Why?"

"It turns out that one of the reasons Ranma chose Nabiki is because she, unlike all his other suitors, puts a great deal of trust in him, and was willing to demonstrate that trust in an extremely strong fashion."

"But Shampoo trust Airen…"

"I know you do, but you rarely demonstrate it. You shower him with devotion and affection, but it turns out that it is trust that he needs to see more than any other aspect of love. Thus, after you agreed to all of the terms of the arrangement, you requested an opportunity to display an equal amount of trust, asking Ranma to erase all your memories of the negotiation, so that you could accept the arrangement, swearing by the honor of the Tribe to keep up your end of the bargain without actually knowing what the bargain was. This is why I've been deliberately vague in my description of last night's events." Shampoo didn't know it, but that was quite possibly the largest understatement Cologne had ever made in her considerably long life; she'd left out huge swaths of narrative, giving her great-granddaughter just barely enough information to be considered "informed" by Ranma's surprisingly stringent definition.

"What?!"

"Calm down, child. I'll have you know that Ranma was dead-set against it, and several hours of further negotiation to agree to a variant. In the end, he only agreed because you will be given multiple opportunities in the future to reconsider, and because he has the ability to lift the mental blocks he's put in place, allowing you full access to your memories of last night, which will make everything clear should you react adversely upon learning the details of the agreement."

Shampoo's eyes lit up. She didn't know what all that talk about mental blocks meant, but the mention of "reconsideration" meant only one thing: marriage! Marriages to outsiders were given regular opportunities to be annulled, as a means to prevent abuse on the part of the outsiders who, after all, had to be physically stronger than their wives in order to qualify in the first place. "And Mercenary Girl not have problem?"

"Actually, this arrangement inadvertently solves one of the problems the Saotomes have been having. You see… but I'm saying too much. There are only two things you need to know. One is that, Ranma is waiting in the room behind that door," she said, pointing to the door that lead to Yugemi's basement. "When you are ready, you will enter that door and go down the steps. "The room is currently lit with two spotlights. Ranma is sitting in a chair beneath one. You are to stand beneath the other. Ranma will ask you a question that is, essentially, a very simplified version of the agreement which the two of you have already made. You can then agree or disagree, swearing by the Tribe if it is in the affirmative. Having demonstrated your trust for him in this way, you will then be informed of the details of the arrangement, to which you will, of course, be bound."

Shampoo nodded. An oath made by the Tribe, once broken, meant a permanent destruction of one's honor, which could not be regained by any means, even something as severe as suicide. That was why they all had to be authorized by a member of the Council, to ensure that they could not be made lightly.

"The second thing you need to know is this. That I, Ku Lon of the Amazons, swear by the honor of our Tribe that I was a witness to the negotiations of last night, that Ranma did not take advantage of your heightened state of suggestibility while you were in a hypnotic trance, that you agreed to the terms of the arrangement of your own free will, and, most importantly, your honor within the Tribe will not be diminished in the slightest. May my soul be cursed for eternity if these words be found untrue."

Shampoo's eyes widened again, but this time not in delight. "Was that… necessary?"

"Yes. Ranma insisted on it."

"But…"

"I'm not going to tell you any more information, as you requested of me last night."

Shampoo nodded solemnly. Slowly, she stood up, noting for the first time that she had apparently gone to sleep wearing a white silk nightgown.

"A present from Ms. Aitsu," Cologne explained.

Shampoo nodded again. She walked towards the door, and after taking a deep breath, turned the handle.

Shampoo stood in front of her beloved, who had an austere expression on his face that she'd never seen before. This was not the gritty, determined seriousness Ranma often displayed in the heat of a particularly difficult battle, but something else. Something… unsettling.

"Cologne has told you everything?"

The Amazon nodded. "Everything except parts Shampoo apparently not want self to know," she said.

Ranma, however, didn't seem to be in the mood for levity. "Shampoo, as a result of this agreement, both you and Nabiki will be a part of my life. According to Amazon law, you will be my wife, while she shall be a concubine officially sanctioned by the Tribe. However, as far as Japanese law is concerned, Nabiki is my wife, and you shall be my mistress."

Shampoo nodded. It wasn't ideal, but it would work. The fact that Nabiki was willing to accept this must have been one of the things that was learned the previous night.

Ranma, however, continued. "However, what the outside world sees, whether they're Amazons or Japanese, ain't gonna be the same thing as what happens in our home. They'll all see one of you as being superior to the other, but in reality, you will be equals."

Shampoo nodded again. "Go on."

"So, when it comes down to it, you've basically gotta answer one question." Ranma paused, taking several deep breaths, exposing a nervousness that Shampoo had never before seen in her Airen's countenance. "Shampoo, are you willing to be treated as Nabiki's equal in every way, and will you accept the agreement we made last night?"

Strangely enough, Shampoo found herself pausing at what should have been an easy "yes." She wasn't sure why—everything _sounded_ perfectly reasonable. In fact, in the back of her mind, she'd always known that the situation with Ranma could very well result in her being considered the equal of one of the other suitors in practice, if not in name; it may not even have been much of a stretch to call it the _only_ possible result. With the exception of this display of trust, there shouldn't have been much reason to make a fuss. And yet, she knew that there had to be something else there; otherwise, neither her Great-Grandmother nor her Airen would be going out of their way to make sure she understood the gravity of the situation. Clearly, the idea of being treated as an equal with Nabiki had much, _much_ deeper implications than one might initially assume, implications which had probably been spelled out in some detail the previous night.

Suddenly, the weighty nature of this 'demonstration' became perfectly obvious: the assumptions she was making were, somehow, flawed, and she could not figure out what that flaw was. Whether this was the result of Ranma's mental blocks was rather inconsequential. The demonstration wouldn't show that she trusted him not to put any hidden catches in the agreement, because there would be no need for all the precaution if those catches weren't there. No, this was to show that she trusted her Airen's character, _despite_ the fact that he wasn't telling her everything.

Truly, the young Amazon did not know what she was getting herself into, and that was the entire point.

"Do you need more time?"

"No," Shampoo replied after the briefest of silences. "Shampoo make decision."

"Then let's hear it."

The lavender-haired woman breathed deeply to collect her composure. "I, Xian Pu of the Amazons, swear by honor of my Tribe to accept agreement made with Airen last night, and to live private life as Nabiki's equal. May my soul be cursed for eternity if these words be found untrue." Shampoo let out a long breath. It was done, and now all she had to do was live with the consequences of her actions.

She mentally braced herself against whatever strange development Ranma had in store for her, closing her eyes in an effort to make the shock more bearable. However, they flew open when she felt her someone… hugging her? Apparently, her Airen had rose from his chair and strode over to her spotlight to embrace her. Shampoo was at a loss for words. "What… why…?"

Correctly discerning the reason for the girl's confusion, Ranma answered, "I'm huggin' you for two reasons. The first is that I'm really touched by what you just did. This whole thing started with me trying to bluff and scare you away from a relationship with me, and you just kept at it the whole time. You… you really _are_ willing to do anything for me."

Of course, Shampoo didn't have even a sliver of context to understand this, but still, this was potentially a good sign. Perhaps it wasn't so bad, after all! "What second reason?"

"So I can restrain you while I tell you what you just agreed to do."

Any hope faded almost immediately. She _had_ agreed to something—something so unnerving, that Ranma wasn't certain that an oath by the Tribe would be sufficient to secure her cooperation. It was then that Nabiki (Had she really been in the room the whole time?) stepped into the spotlight in front of the wooden chair, carrying a blue velvet pillow with a piece of leather on it, and wearing a black choker of some kind—and absolutely nothing else. Suddenly, Shampoo was beginning to regret her habit of not wearing undergarments when she slept; she desperately wanted there to be more between her body and the elements than a single layer of white silk fabric. "Why Nabiki dressed—er, not dressed like that?"

"Because she's my pet," Ranma answered, subtly increasing the pressure around her arms and torso.

"Pet?" The way her Airen used the word did make a vague sort of sense, as it now became obvious that the choker Nabiki wore was designed to look like a collar—no, it really _was_ a collar!

Ranma continued, "Yes—my pet girl. The great demonstration of trust on her part was to allow me to use her body however, wherever, and whenever I want."

"Huh?"

"Master is allowed to have sex with me at any time, and I've promised to submit to his desires no matter what," Nabiki said, with a degree of pride Shampoo would never have expected from someone with such a well-earned reputation for putting her own interests before those of everyone else on the planet.

"Hush, Nabiki. You're not making this any easier for her," Ranma replied, further tightening his hold on the Amazon. "But she's right. Furthermore, she's completely surrendered her right to refuse any request I make, allowing me to punish her when she doesn't do as I please. If I abuse her trust, there is very little she can do. That's what I mean when I say she's my pet. And as you have just sworn to let me treat you as her equal."

"E… equal?" Shampoo repeated, her eyes widening.

"When Nabiki first proposed this arrangement, I didn't understand the implications as well as I do now, which was why you wanted the opportunity to make your submission to me an equally great leap of faith—perhaps an even greater one."

"Submission?! But… but…"

"Yes, I know," Ranma replied as Shampoo started to resist his grasp more actively. "We found out last night how sheltered you are with regards to the sex lives of the others in your Tribe. But your Great-grandmother did swear that your honor wouldn't be diminished, didn't she?"

"Yes, but—"

"And she swore by the Tribe when she did so, correct?"

"Yes, but… this… this now how it supposed to happen!" The young girl was starting to tear up.

Ranma relaxed his grip slightly (though not enough to give his new pet the chance to break away and possibly cause damage to Ms. Aitsu's property). "It's okay, Shampoo. I'm not going to ask any more of you. This was good enough—I know you trust me. This is kind of what I was afraid of, actually. I can't really imagine anyone who would be willing to jump right into this kind of relationship with absolutely no idea what she was doing, even _if_ she really wanted the chance. I'll remove the mental blocks from last night, okay? Once you remember everything, it'll make sense, I promise."

For a split-second, Shampoo was going to go along with it, allowing the promised flood of memories to return and explain how her Airen had become her "owner." So it would have been, had she not glanced at Nabiki. The Mercenary girl still stood in the same spot, with the same posture and the same confident shamelessness in her nudity—but the neutral look on her face had been replaced by her trademarked smirk. The Amazon could think of only one reason for such smug superiority; Cologne had said that Ranma chose Nabiki because she demonstrated trust in him "in an extremely strong fashion," and knowing the Mercenary Girl's general temperament, _she_ hadn't looked back for one second.

To Shampoo's mind, the implication was clear—"good enough" _wasn't_ good enough once Nabiki entered the picture. This realization chased away the initial shock of the revelation, replacing it with a truth obvious to anyone who knew Ranma as well as she: that he would never, _ever_ lie about something like this. More importantly, Cologne had said that trust was the most important aspect of love Ranma needed to see. The mere fact that she could not, at the moment, comprehend _why_ she would make such a choice was, for all intents and purposes, completely irrelevant. If her Airen said that she had agreed to be his pet, to let him use her body for his own physical pleasure, then that must have been exactly what happened.

It already was too late to back out completely—she'd sworn by the Tribe. She simply could not let this new part of her life start with a show of _disbelief_. She may have been confused and a little scared, but she still had her pride. "No… Shampoo not need to know."

Ranma looked a little bit surprised at this. "Really? Well, perhaps I can release your memories later."

"Perhaps." Shampoo glanced over at Nabiki. The smirk was gone, replaced with a barely hidden look of mild consternation. _Ha! I knew it!_ Nabiki wanted her to give up, so that her status would be greater, but it wasn't going to happen. Shampoo would trust her Airen, she would submit to him and become his pet, and, whether consciously or not, he would reward her for it. It would, no doubt, be tough—but she _trusted_ him.

In the meantime, Ranma had walked over to his first petgirl and lifted the collar off of the velvet cushion in her hands. "This is your collar. It matches Nabiki's exactly—the two of you picked them out from Yugemi's stockpile, and Cologne purchased them as a gift for the two of you. Even though you ain't gonna be wearing it all the time, it's symbolic of the fact that I now own you, body and mind, just as I already own Nabiki." Ranma placed the black leather collar on Shampoo's neck, positioning the chromed O-ring over her larynx. "There's a lot of ground rules that I've made, but for right now, you only need to know one of them: when you are wearing your collar, you must call me 'Master,' or 'Mistress' if I'm in girlform. Not 'Ranma,' not 'Airen,' not anything else. You understand?"

Shampoo nodded. "Yes… Master." _Rules? Is this a game of some kind?_

"Good." Shampoo's owner then grabbed the top of her nightgown, and with a dramatic flourish, tore the garment from her body, leaving her nude, save her collar and hair ornaments. Ranma walked around his new acquisition, nodding with approval as he inspected the body that now belonged to him. He'd seen her in the nude before, but this was the first time that he wasn't in a state of panic as a result. Shampoo was a few centimeters shorter than Nabiki, and while her breasts were slightly bigger, and her muscles were more toned, the two essentially had the same basic body type. "You've got a nice body, Shampoo. Thank you for givin' it to me."

"Uh, Master is welcome." The casual sincerity in Ranma's voice destroyed any doubts Shampoo may have had. This was not going to be a game. "Um…"

"You scared?"

"Um… not… well… maybe…."

"Good. That means you aren't crazy. Don't worry, we're gonna start out easy." Even as Ranma said it, Nabiki had walked up beside him and begun to remove her Master's black silk pants. Shampoo couldn't help but notice the bulge in his boxer shorts. Ranma, meanwhile, simply kept on talking, pausing only to step out of his clothes as they reached his ankles. "You're gonna give me a blowjob. You know what I mean by that, right?"

Shampoo nodded—though she hardly thought this was "starting out easy." By Amazon standards, fellatio was one of the kinkiest sex acts imaginable. After all, the mouth looked nothing like a pussy, unlike the breasts, which at least resembled a pair of labia major a swelling with desire, or the dirty flower, which was in the same general area of the female body. But the mouth? It had a tongue! And teeth! What man in his right mind would want to put his masculinity in a woman's mouth? And what kind of woman would let him?

But Shampoo was not naïve. She'd overheard enough sordid conversations in the Nekohanten to know that the "blowjob," as her Master had called it, was viewed differently by outsiders. And even if it wasn't… well, she'd sworn by the Tribe. Any embarrassment that could occur if her fellow Amazons learned of this single act would pale in comparison to the dishonor she would receive by not performing it. "Shampoo… happy to pleasure in this way," she said, choosing her words carefully, "but not sure how."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not expecting perfection the first time. As long as you don't bite down on me, I'll be more than satisfied. We can work on technique later." Ranma sat back down on the wooden chair, spreading his legs to make room for his pet's head.

"You… you not going to remove shirt?"

"No… why?"

"Blowjobs… they often messy, yes?"

"Well, yeah, I guess they can be, if the guy takes his cock out to spray jizz all over the girl's face. I'm not really into that, though, so you'll be swallowing all my cum."

 _Swallowing?! People actually swallow it?!_ Shampoo glanced over at Nabiki again, who remained silent, but once again had that smirk on her face.

Ranma didn't even wait for the question. "Yes, she's going to watch us, because I want her to, and she has no choice in the matter, just like you. But I'm losing my patience and my boner, so I suggest you get started."

Shampoo nodded, and quickly kneeled in front of her Master's engorged member—she was somewhat relieved that it didn't look _too_ big… she figured she'd be able to get the most sensitive parts to fit in without too many problems. Her Master's cock was slick with a surprising amount of pre-cum (though it was only surprising because she didn't yet know about the Male Lubrication Pressure Point which Ranma had taken a great liking to in recent days). She grabbed the bottom of the shaft with her right hand, and used her left to guide it towards her mouth.

She slipped it inside, doing everything she could to get over the strangeness of having a living body part inside her mouth as soon as she could. When it was about halfway in, she began to slid it in and out of her mouth in a bizarre simulation of copulation. She wasn't certain what to do with her tongue, so she elected to use it to cover her bottom set of teeth, making it easier (she hoped) to avoid accidentally scraping her Master's cock. She soon got into a rhythm which Ranma seemed to enjoy, mentally repeating a phrase to herself: _I trust my Master, I trust my Master, I trust my Master…_

Shampoo was actually quite pleased that the grunts and groans emanating from Ranma's throat were increasing in intensity—that is, until he decided to grab her head and forcibly increase the intensity. As he began actively thrusting with his hips, he pushed his cock farther into her mouth, reaching the back of her throat and almost triggering her gag reflex. "Uh… yeah… so… good… almost… there… I… I'm gonna cum!"

And it came. It was hot and sticky and bitter and salty and it was going down her throat and it wasn't stopping and her Master was groaning and why did it feel so good and is it stopping and will it stop and one last squirt and thank the Goddess it's over. Ranma slipped his member out of his pet's mouth and quickly covered it with his hand to stop her from spitting it out. "Remember… I want you to swallow."

Shampoo nodded, wincing as she swallowed as much of her owner's seed as she could. When her Master finally moved her hand, she still ended up coughing, but nothing came out of her mouth that couldn't be reasonably assumed to be spittle. "That was very good for your first try, Shampoo."

The petgirl didn't respond, as she was still breathing heavily. This whole experience had been really intense; in fact, she'd been so focused on the sex act she'd performed, that she'd somehow managed to ignore something that would have normally would never have escaped her attention. "Is… Shampoo… wet?" The slickness between her legs felt familiar, but she would never have expected it to occur _now_ … not without stimulation.

She instinctively reached towards her womanhood to check, but her Master stopped. "Whoa, hold on there. You aren't allowed to touch your pussy without permission unless you're cleaning yourself. That's another rule."

"It is?"

"Uh huh. I'd give you a list, but I'm still working out the kinks. Nabiki can tell you more, but they're all subject to change without notice. In fact, that's exactly what she's going to do in the next few minutes, since I need to talk to Cologne before she heads back to the Nekohanten."

Shampoo nodded. Ranma started to walk upstairs, but before he reached the halfway point, he abruptly turned around.

"Oh, and there's one more thing. Nabiki?"

The petgirl apparently hadn't expected to be addressed, judging from her mild surprise. "Yes, Master?"

"Don't think I didn't notice that smirk of yours. I'm warning you: if you try to pull some sort of power play on Shampoo, or try to deceive her in any way about what it really means to be my pet, I _will_ find out, and there _will_ be consequences. Got it?"

"Yes, Master," Nabiki replied with nary a trace of emotion in her voice.

"Good. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Shampoo didn't waste any time once her Airen and Master left the room. "So… what exactly are rules?"

Nabiki thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "Hmm… let's see…. Well, first of all, Master already told you how he wants to be addressed, but the flip side is that he doesn't want you to call him 'Master' when you aren't wearing your collar—basically, he doesn't want to attract a lot attention. Of course, that also means that if he fondles you in public, you have to do everything you can to avoid looking aroused—and believe me, that's no small feat, because you _will_ be incredibly turned on."

Shampoo nodded, gathering from Nabiki's tone that she'd already been placed in situations like the one she described. "What else?"

"Well, the second thing is that you aren't allowed to cum without his permission. That's why you aren't allowed to touch your pussy—less temptation to masturbate."

"But Master mention hygiene…"

"Well, that's basically the only standing exception. You have to be able to touch yourself to keep yourself clean, after all. Oh, and speaking of hygiene, he's almost certainly going to have you shave your pubic hair."

"What? Why?"

"Well, he hasn't come right out and said it yet, but I think he just doesn't like body hair. Not just on his subs—he's already dropped multiple hints that he plans to do the same thing himself. Probably the only thing holding him back is a question of whether or not body hair is essential to demonstrate his 'masculinity' by his mother's standards."

"But… how she question masculinity when Master convince two girls to be pets?"

"I don't know, but Auntie Nodoka can be a little unpredictable sometimes."

Shampoo didn't quite know what to say to that, so she turned her attention to something else. "Why Nabiki trying power grab manipulation thingie with Shampoo?"

"I wasn't."

"Master said you were."

"That's because the facial expression I use for smug superiority is the same one I use for genuine bemusement. I just thought that watching you submit to him was, well… entertaining."

"Why?"

"Well, I guess it's because I've been fantasizing about Master dominating a young woman for a while now—it's just that the young woman is usually me."

"So this not because Shampoo is Amazon?"

Nabiki chuckled. "Shampoo, last night, we learned a lot about Amazon society, including one very specific part you were apparently unaware of."

"Yes… Master mention that."

"Basically, arrangements like this are surprisingly common for marriages to Outsiders."

"What?! Nabiki joking, yes?"

"Nope. Granted, they don't normally go as far as this, but they happen just the same. Look, are you familiar with the concept of power exchange?"

"Shampoo not exactly electrician…"

"That isn't quite what this is about. You see, among people who share this kink, 'power exchange' generally refers to the willing transfer of power from the submissive to the Dominant. However, the Amazons have a more literal interpretation of the concept: because Outsiders cede some control of their public lives to the Tribe, their spouses give them control of some aspect of their private lives in return. Apparently, one of the more popular options is to give up control in the bedroom."

"But Shampoo never see Amazon women acting submissive to husbands."

"That's because you only see them in their _public_ lives, not in the privacy of their own homes. Basically, as long as Master doesn't make us do anything scandalous in public, nobody in your Tribe will bat so much as an eye."

"But is that really equal trade for what Master is getting?"

"Probably not, but I think I saw a glimmer in your great-grandmother's eye that suggests she's going to use that fact as additional leverage to get him to do what she wants."

"And Master… knows all this?"

"I'm not sure—I went to bed around midnight, so I didn't hear the whole conversation. If it were the old lunkhead from a few weeks ago, I'd guess the implications went over his head completely—but ever since Master took me as his pet, his mind seems to be working… differently."

"Meaning?"

"There's really no telling what he's thinking."

Ranma exhaled slowly, directing his breath upwards so that it hit his bangs, as Cologne exited the building. Once she returned with the items he'd requested, they would do all the ceremonies needed to make everything official, at least as far as the Amazons were concerned.

Of course, he'd had his misgivings initially—and, if he was being honest with himself, he still had them, even now. It wasn't that he didn't think that the traditional Amazon "power exchange" as Cologne explained it was unfair to him. Quite the opposite, in fact: when one considered just what Shampoo was giving up, the traditional arrangement was tremendously lopsided in his favor, and it was even more so when Nabiki's submission was taken into account. Taking on the responsibilities associated with membership in the Amazon tribe didn't even come close to equaling the fact that they had given him almost complete control over _themselves_.

Even though Cologne had made it clear that the traditional arrangement would satisfy the Amazons' sense of honor (and Ranma had absolutely no reason to think that she'd be deceptive about this), there were things which… just didn't seem right, at least in this instance.

For one thing, the "traditional" power exchange basically amounted to the Outsider submitting his will to that of the Tribe, and his spouse granting a boon of control over some aspect of her life—but the spouse did so _as a representative of the Tribe_ , and Ranma hadn't really made an arrangement with the Amazons—he'd made one with Shampoo. She'd essentially granted him control over her entire being, and he was supposed to repay her by following Cologne's orders? That wasn't adequate, and he knew it.

Even more relevant was the fact that he'd almost immediately come up with a solution that _did_ satisfy his own sense of honor, and would likely put them close to a perfectly balanced arrangement. There _was_ one aspect of his life that he could grant his pets control over without compromising his Dominance (mostly because any exercise of that control on their part could be followed by the exercise of his own control over them). He was even pretty sure the Amazons would accept this, because of the level of devotion it would demonstrate on his part. The only problem was that this potential solution scared the crap out of him, simply because it was something he never would have considered even twenty-four hours ago. It had been this that had kept him awake all night, rather than any worries about Shampoo's reaction, not because it was a difficult decision to make, but because it had been so easy—much easier than it should have been.

In other words, he'd been second-guessing his instincts for hours, because they seemed to run counter to what he already knew about himself….

Ranma suddenly stopped and chuckled. "Now I know how Nabiki must've felt when she first offered to be my pet," he spoke softly to himself. That seemed to settle it, in a way. All he really had to do know was to tell the girls.

"Hey," Ranma said as he descended the stairs to the dungeon again.

The two pets, who'd apparently been behaving themselves quite nicely (if the tone of their conversation was any indication) both turned towards him. "Hello, Master," they said in unison.

"Aww, were you practicing that for me?"

The girls nodded their heads.

"That's sweet… but don't do it again. I think it's kind of creepy."

"Uh, OK, Master," Nabiki said. "So, are you going to be training us some more?"

"In a minute, but first… I need to say something. Uh, Shampoo, did Nabs tell you about the whole Amazon power exchange thing?"

"Yes, Master. Shampoo very appreciative—know how much Master value independence."

"Well, I like the basic concept of the power exchange but the, uh, normal one, uh, it ain't gonna work out. It's… um… not very fair. To you, I mean."

"Master… what you saying?"

Ranma sighed. "Dammit, I knew I should have practiced this…" He took a deep breath and tried again. "I guess what I'm saying is that Cologne didn't ask me to go far enough. I need to show my devotion to you—to the both of you, I mean—and, I, uh, thought about this a lot last night, and, um, I'm… I'm pretty sure it's, you know, the right thing to do."

Now Nabiki was intrigued. "Master, you know you don't need to take any special measures."

"But I want to. Well, I don't know if it's right to say I _want_ to do this, but, well, it needs to be special. And, well, it would give the two of you some control over me—just a completely different kind of control. And it's something that would be in effect 24/7, simply because it's not the kind of thing that you can turn off and on…."

"Um, Master?"

"Yeah, Nabs?"

"If I may be so bold, maybe you should just come right out tell us what you're doing. Trying to explain it seems to have you really flustered."

Ranma smirked. "Yeah, you're right about that. Okay, here goes: You've given up control of your sex lives, almost to the point where I can literally make you do anything I want. In return, I'm giving up control of…" Ranma's voice cracked from his nervousness; after some coughing and muttered apologies, he finished his sentence. "…control of my physical form." There was some silence for a few seconds, as both petgirls looked a bit stunned at this, although for slightly different reasons. Ranma tried to clarify: "It's going to be a limited control—I mean, I'm not taking orders from either of you about it, but you both know that it's not that hard to force me without my permission. I mean, you'll be facing consequences for your actions, but I'm not going to do anything to make those actions, you know, impossible."

"Huh?" Nabiki raised her eyebrow in confusion. "What the heck does all that mean?"

Shampoo turned to look at her fellow pet. "It mean," she explained with mild irritation, as if it should have been patently obvious, "that Master choose not to cure Jusenkyo curse."

Cologne had been riding on an emotional high all morning, and with good reason: after nearly a year of setbacks, she'd managed to secure for the Tribe its most magnificent prize in decades, one Ranma Saotome. The young teenager would certainly serve the Tribe well in the years to come, especially since she could now reveal the full extent of the Tribe's wisdom to him. The fact that the Tribe's reigning Champion (and her great-granddaughter) had to submit to his desires in order to make this happen didn't really bother her much—it had been years since those kinds of bedroom activities were considered scandalous.

Nor was the fact that Shampoo was even willing to consider this relationship in the first place particularly unnerving. Cologne had been around long enough to learn that some people were aroused by the idea of straining or even breaking taboos, and it just so happened that her great-granddaughter was one of them. To Cologne, such kinks were only personality flaws if one allowed them to be; in the proper context, these salacious attitudes could be transformed into resources to be exploited for the good of the Tribe as a whole.

Of course, since Ranma had basically been promised a mind-blowing sex life in return for his loyalty, Cologne was quite eager to make sure he was happy, which was why she'd returned to the Nekohanten to get some "traditional medicines" to further enhance his experience. The most notable of these was a blend of herbs that had long been used by the Amazons as a method of birth control—most importantly, it was strong enough to counteract the fertility drugs Shampoo was currently using. After all, Ranma had accepted Shampoo as his wife, there was no longer a need for such a drastic "Plan B" to get his genes into the Amazon pool, so the young man's preference to delay fatherhood until after he became financially independent could now be indulged.

The Matriarch cheerfully hummed a traditional Amazonian folk song as she left the Nekohanten again, visions of defeated Musk fleeing from her new warrior floating through her head. Yes, victory was indeed sweet.

Nabiki was a bit stunned when she heard her Master's pronouncement. "You're giving up your cure?"

"Well, uh, yeah, I guess."

Had she seen it coming, the brown-haired pet probably would have chosen her next sentence a bit more carefully. "You like lesbian sex that much?"

Ranma didn't have a chance to respond, as Shampoo felt compelled to jump in for him. "You actually think Master do something like this over something so… so… trivial?!"

Nabiki allowed herself the briefest of moments to wonder how Shampoo had managed to add that word to her vocabulary before answering. "You're only saying that because Master hasn't had you fuck his girlform yet. Trust me, it's hardly 'trivial.'"

This attempt to lighten the mood, however, did not go over very well. "This not joking matter."

"Look, Shampoo, just because we've basically decided to allow our lives to revolve around pleasuring our owner, that doesn't mean we can't have a sense of humor about it."

"But it not about sex in first place!"

Nabiki raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Shampoo, we've both agreed to let Master treat us like sex objects—hell, we both _want_ be his personal sex objects, otherwise we'd have found excuses to put some clothes on by now! I don't think there's much we'll be doing that isn't about sex in one way or another."

The Amazon groaned in frustration. "You just not get it! You not know what it like to have entire being at mercy of passing shower, to lose identity from falling in puddle, to have your form change because jerk with garden hose think it entertaining. Master is Amazon now, could easily remove that from life, but he choose not to. Mercenary girl should not be flippant about things she doesn't know."

Said "Mercenary girl" rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, I can see how all that would apply to _you_. After all, not only is your cursed form not even human, it just happens to be something that Master has a pathological fear of. But when Master turns into a girl, he's still human. Hell, most of the time, he doesn't even need to change clothes. The way I see it, that's practically an advantage—given that he gets to have hot girl-on-girl action whenever he wants, I'd say he's coming out ahead in the deal. I get the whole symbolic part, but come on, when you get right down to it, Master isn't really sacrificing very much in practical terms."

That was about all that Shampoo could stand—she was not about to let some smart-alecky Outsider denigrate a gesture of this magnitude. Her hand flew towards Nabiki's cheek, intent on delivering a sobering lesson in reality where an appeal to the emotions had failed. There was just enough time for Nabiki to flinch before their Master's hand shot out and grabbed Shampoo's hand by the wrist. **"Enough."**

Shampoo turned and looked at Ranma's eyes… and was shocked to see them squinting back at her with steely, determined anger. "Shampoo, you do _not_ strike Nabiki. _Ever_. She's much, much weaker than you, and more importantly, you have absolutely no authority to discipline her for any reason. That's my responsibility alone, and it goes without saying that antics like this won't be tolerated." He squeezed his pet's wrist as hard as he dared to accentuate his point.

"But… Nabiki not appreciate what Master doing."

"Of course she doesn't. Only someone who's actually experienced a Jusenkyo curse could, which is why I had every intention of forgiving whatever snarky comments she made about the subject. To be honest, I think I'd rather have snark than empathy from her when it comes to my curse. If I let myself be as dramatic about it as you are, I'd probably go nuts."

"Sorry…"

Ranma, however, shook his head. "A simple apology won't cut it. Not for something like this. I'd have thought this obvious, but it looks like I'm gonna have to say it outright. Neither of you will _ever_ be allowed to take the other's discipline into her own hands. You do not get involved in disciplining your fellow pet unless I give you a direct order to do so. Doesn't matter how minor the violation is, there's gonna be zero tolerance for it, and the punishment is gonna be severe."

"Shampoo not do it again."

"I appreciate the what you're saying, Shampoo, but this is one case where I can't even let you off with a warning."

"But… why not?"

"Precedent," Ranma replied, glad that his lawyer had actually defined that word for him earlier. "If I let you off with a warning, that means that Nabiki would get a chance to try and discipline you without any major consequences, otherwise I wouldn't be treating you equally. Do you really want me to let her have _that_ kind of power?"

Shampoo shook her head slowly.

"I thought not. I'm sorry to have to do this, Shampoo, but you're going have to be punished, and it's not going to be pleasant." He walked over to the wall, pulled off a white cotton bathrobe, and handed it to the teenage Amazon. "Here. Put this on, go upstairs, and have some breakfast. Nabiki and I need to set things up down here."

Silently and somberly, Shampoo obeyed her Master's orders.


End file.
